Parasite association in non-volant small mammals in Brazil

Santos, Filipe Martins and Sano, Nayara Yoshie (2022) Parasite association in non-volant small mammals in Brazil. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY, 23 (1). pp. 129-136. ISSN 1585-8553 (print); 1588-2756 (online)

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Abstract

Small mammals not only play an important role in biodiversity, but also act as dynamic hosts and reservoirs for a variety of parasites that are of public health importance. Furthermore, host–parasite associations are driven by complex ecological interactions, and the parasite species dynamics are explained by several factors. In this work we aim to verify the association between parasitic infections in small Brazilian mammals. Here, we carried out a systematic review to verify the distribution of parasites in small Brazilian mammals; later we carried out a network analysis to assess the host–parasite associations of the results found. We found 110 studies that included all groups of parasites. We compiled a set of networks with the dif- ferent groups of parasites (except viruses and fungi due to the small number of records). The most widespread host species were Akodon cursor, A. montensis, Clyomys laticeps, Didelphis albiventris, D. aurita, D. marsupialis, Necromys lasiurus, Nectomys squamipes, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Thaptomys nigrita, and Thrichomys fosteri, that occurred in the four networks. All networks had modular patterns, except for Helminth’s network. A phenomenon known as aggregation in parasitology was observed in our review with many associations of small mammals and parasites. Furthermore, rodents and marsupial species are highly diversified and have the potential to be sources of pathogens, directly or indirectly through vectors. Therefore, understanding the host–parasite relationship is essential, not only for the ecological history of the hosts and/or parasites, but also for its importance for public health in disease transmission.

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