Journal
OECOLOGIA
Volume 166, Issue 4, Pages 1077-1086Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00442-011-1946-8
Keywords
Disease; Predation; Ribeiroia; Echinostoma; Ambystoma
Categories
Funding
- National Science Foundation [SBE-0244916, DEB-0918960, DEB-0918656]
- MAP grant
- College of Science and Technology at Radford University
- Virginia Tech Department of Biological Sciences
- Virginia Tech Advance program
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [0918656] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Predators can have important impacts on host-parasite dynamics. For many directly transmitted parasites, predators can reduce transmission by removing the most heavily infected individuals from the population. Less is known about how predators might influence parasite dynamics in systems where the parasite relies on vectors or multiple host species to complete their life cycles. Digenetic trematodes are parasitic flatworms with complex life cycles typically involving three host species. They are common parasites in freshwater systems containing aquatic snails, which serve as obligate first intermediate hosts, and multiple trematode species use amphibians as second intermediate hosts. We experimentally examined the impact of predatory salamanders (Ambystoma jeffersonianum) and trematode parasites (Echinostoma trivolvis and Ribeiroia ondatrae) on short-term survival of wood frog tadpoles (Rana sylvatica) in 150-L outdoor pools. Two trematode species were used in experiments because field surveys indicated the presence of both species at our primary study site. Parasites and predators both significantly reduced tadpole survival in outdoor pools; after 6 days, tadpole survival was reduced from 100% in control pools to a mean of 46% in pools containing just parasites and a mean of 49% in pools containing just predators. In pools containing both infected snails and predators, tadpole survival was further reduced to a mean of 5%, a clear risk-enhancement or synergism. These dramatic results suggest that predators may alter transmission dynamics of trematodes in natural systems, and that a complete understanding of host-parasite interactions requires studying these interactions within the ecological framework of community interactions.
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