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Diversity, Loss, and Gain of Malaria Parasites in a Globally Invasive Bird.

Marzal, Alfonso ; Ricklefs, Robert E ; Valkiūnas, Gediminas ; Albayrak, Tamer ; Arriero, Elena ; Bonneaud, Camille ; Czirják, Gábor A ; Ewen, John ; Hellgren, Olof LU and Hořáková, Dita , et al. (2011) In PLoS ONE 6(7).
Abstract
Invasive species can displace natives, and thus identifying the traits that make aliens successful is crucial for predicting and preventing biodiversity loss. Pathogens may play an important role in the invasive process, facilitating colonization of their hosts in new continents and islands. According to the Novel Weapon Hypothesis, colonizers may out-compete local native species by bringing with them novel pathogens to which native species are not adapted. In contrast, the Enemy Release Hypothesis suggests that flourishing colonizers are successful because they have left their pathogens behind. To assess the role of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites in the global spread of a common invasive bird, we examined the... (More)
Invasive species can displace natives, and thus identifying the traits that make aliens successful is crucial for predicting and preventing biodiversity loss. Pathogens may play an important role in the invasive process, facilitating colonization of their hosts in new continents and islands. According to the Novel Weapon Hypothesis, colonizers may out-compete local native species by bringing with them novel pathogens to which native species are not adapted. In contrast, the Enemy Release Hypothesis suggests that flourishing colonizers are successful because they have left their pathogens behind. To assess the role of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites in the global spread of a common invasive bird, we examined the prevalence and genetic diversity of haemosporidian parasites (order Haemosporida, genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) infecting house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We sampled house sparrows (N = 1820) from 58 locations on 6 continents. All the samples were tested using PCR-based methods; blood films from the PCR-positive birds were examined microscopically to identify parasite species. The results show that haemosporidian parasites in the house sparrows' native range are replaced by species from local host-generalist parasite fauna in the alien environments of North and South America. Furthermore, sparrows in colonized regions displayed a lower diversity and prevalence of parasite infections. Because the house sparrow lost its native parasites when colonizing the American continents, the release from these natural enemies may have facilitated its invasion in the last two centuries. Our findings therefore reject the Novel Weapon Hypothesis and are concordant with the Enemy Release Hypothesis. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
6
issue
7
article number
e21905
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • wos:000292680900016
  • scopus:79960119776
  • pmid:21779353
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0021905
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
82e9988e-cec5-48d3-85b4-aba8a66122a1 (old id 2058347)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:48:50
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:36:32
@article{82e9988e-cec5-48d3-85b4-aba8a66122a1,
  abstract     = {{Invasive species can displace natives, and thus identifying the traits that make aliens successful is crucial for predicting and preventing biodiversity loss. Pathogens may play an important role in the invasive process, facilitating colonization of their hosts in new continents and islands. According to the Novel Weapon Hypothesis, colonizers may out-compete local native species by bringing with them novel pathogens to which native species are not adapted. In contrast, the Enemy Release Hypothesis suggests that flourishing colonizers are successful because they have left their pathogens behind. To assess the role of avian malaria and related haemosporidian parasites in the global spread of a common invasive bird, we examined the prevalence and genetic diversity of haemosporidian parasites (order Haemosporida, genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) infecting house sparrows (Passer domesticus). We sampled house sparrows (N = 1820) from 58 locations on 6 continents. All the samples were tested using PCR-based methods; blood films from the PCR-positive birds were examined microscopically to identify parasite species. The results show that haemosporidian parasites in the house sparrows' native range are replaced by species from local host-generalist parasite fauna in the alien environments of North and South America. Furthermore, sparrows in colonized regions displayed a lower diversity and prevalence of parasite infections. Because the house sparrow lost its native parasites when colonizing the American continents, the release from these natural enemies may have facilitated its invasion in the last two centuries. Our findings therefore reject the Novel Weapon Hypothesis and are concordant with the Enemy Release Hypothesis.}},
  author       = {{Marzal, Alfonso and Ricklefs, Robert E and Valkiūnas, Gediminas and Albayrak, Tamer and Arriero, Elena and Bonneaud, Camille and Czirják, Gábor A and Ewen, John and Hellgren, Olof and Hořáková, Dita and Iezhova, Tatjana A and Jensen, Henrik and Križanauskienė, Asta and Robalinho Lima, Marcos and de Lope, Florentino and Magnussen, Eyðfinn and Martin, Lynn B and Møller, Anders P and Palinauskas, Vaidas and Pap, Péter L and Pérez-Tris, Javier and Sehgal, Ravinder N M and Soler, Manuel and Szöllősi, Eszter and Westerdahl, Helena and Zetindjiev, Pavel and Bensch, Staffan}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{7}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Diversity, Loss, and Gain of Malaria Parasites in a Globally Invasive Bird.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021905}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0021905}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}