title: Drivers of Intensity and Prevalence of Flea Parasitism on Small Mammals in East African Savanna Ecosystems.
abstract: The relative importance of environmental factors and host factors in explaining variation in prevalence and intensity of flea parasitism in small mammal communities is poorly established. We examined these relationships in an East African savanna landscape, considering multiple host levels: across individuals within a local population, across populations within species, and across species within a landscape. We sampled fleas from 2,672 small mammals of 27 species. This included a total of 8,283 fleas, with 5 genera and 12 species identified. Across individual hosts within a site, both rodent body mass and season affected total intensity of flea infestation, although the explanatory power of these factors was generally modest (<10%). Across host populations in the landscape, we found consistently positive effects of host density and negative effects of vegetation cover on the intensity of flea infestation. Other factors explored (host diversity, annual rainfall, anthropogenic disturbance, and soil properties) tended to have lower and less consistent explanatory power. Across host species in the landscape, we found that host body mass was strongly positively correlated with both prevalence and intensity of flea parasitism, while average robustness of a host species to disturbance was not correlated with flea parasitism. Cumulatively, these results provide insight into the intricate roles of both host and environmental factors in explaining complex patterns of flea parasitism across landscape mosaics.
authors: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106.
authors: Hillary S
authors: HS
authors: Young
authors: Rodolfo
authors: R
authors: Dirzo
authors: Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106.
authors: Douglas J
authors: DJ
authors: McCauley
authors: Bernard
authors: B
authors: Agwanda
authors: Lia
authors: L
authors: Cattaneo
authors: Katharina
authors: K
authors: Dittmar
authors: Ralph P
authors: RP
authors: Eckerlin
authors: Robert C
authors: RC
authors: Fleischer
authors: Lauren E
authors: LE
authors: Helgen
authors: Ashley
authors: A
authors: Hintz
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Montinieri
authors: Serena
authors: S
authors: Zhao
authors: Kristofer M
authors: KM
authors: Helgen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D058267:Flea Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D065948:Grassland; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010944:Plants / Q000145:classification; D015995:Prevalence; D011891:Rain; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D012377:Rodentia; D012621:Seasons; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000145:classification; D012987:Soil / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D012987:Soil