RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Long-term temporal trends in gastrointestinal parasite infection in wild Soay sheep
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.04.28.489843
DO 10.1101/2022.04.28.489843
A1 Adam D. Hayward
A1 Jerzy M. Behnke
A1 Dylan Z. Childs
A1 Yolanda Corripio-Miyar
A1 Andy Fenton
A1 Mariecia D. Fraser
A1 Fiona Kenyon
A1 Tom N. McNeilly
A1 Robin J. Pakeman
A1 Amy B. Pedersen
A1 Josephine M. Pemberton
A1 Amy R. Sweeny
A1 Ken Wilson
A1 Jill G. Pilkington
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/04/29/2022.04.28.489843.abstract
AB Monitoring the prevalence and abundance of parasites over time is important for addressing their potential impact on host life-histories, immunological profiles, and their influence as a selective force. Only long-term ecological studies have the potential to shed light on both the temporal trends in infection prevalence and abundance and the drivers of such trends, because of their ability to dissect drivers that may be confounded over shorter time scales. Despite this, only a relatively small number of such studies exist. Here, we analysed changes in the prevalence and abundance of gastrointestinal parasites in the wild Soay sheep population of St Kilda across 31 years. The host population density has increased across the study, and population density is known to increase parasite transmission, but we found that density and year explained temporal variation in parasite prevalence and abundance independently. Prevalence of both strongyle nematodes and coccidian microparasites increased during the study, and this effect varied between lambs, yearlings and adults. Meanwhile, abundance of strongyles was more strongly linked to host density than to temporal (yearly) dynamics, while abundance of coccidia showed a strong temporal trend without any influence of density. Strikingly, coccidian abundance increased threefold across the course of the study in lambs, while increases in yearlings and adults were negligible. Our decades-long, intensive, individual-based study will enable the role of environmental change and selection pressures in driving these dynamics to be determined, potentially providing unparalleled insight into the drivers of temporal variation in parasite dynamics in the wild.Key findingsWe studied temporal trends in gastrointestinal parasites of wild sheep over 31 yearsYear and host population density explained temporal variation in parasites independentlyPrevalence of both strongyle nematodes and coccidia varied across the study periodAbundance of strongyles was more closely linked to host density than yearAbundance of coccidia increased threefold over time in lambs, but did not vary in adultsCompeting Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.