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Biology Faculty Articles
Title
Avian Hematozoa in South America: a Comparison of Temperate and Tropical Zones
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2006
Publication Title
Ornithological Monographs
ISSN
0078-6594
Issue/No.
60
First Page
98
Last Page
111
Abstract
We used screening techniques based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to explore the avian hematozoan parasites (Plasmodium spp. and Haemoproteus spp.) of two previously uninvestigated regions of continental South America. Comparisons of tropical-zone Guyana and temperate-zone Uruguay revealed that overall prevalence of Plasmodium and Haemoproteus species detected in a diverse sampling of potential hosts was significantly higher in Guyana. The difference in prevalence between the two geographic zones appears to be attributable to ecological differences rather than taxonomic sampling artifacts. Diversity of hematozoan haplotypes was also higher in Guyana. We found no relationship between hematozoan haplotype and host family sampled within or between regions. We found very few Plasmodium and no Haemoproteus haplotypes shared between the two regions, and evidence of geographic structuring of hematozoan haplotypes between the two regions. We suggest that a lack of hematozoan haplotype transmission between the two regions may be attributable to the migratory patterns of each region's avian hosts.
Additional Comments
NIH grant #: GM63258
NSUWorks Citation
Durrant, Kate L.; Jon S. Beadell; Farah Ishtiaq; Gary R. Graves; Storrs L. Olson; Eben Gering; Mike A. Peirce; Christopher M. Milensky; Brian K. Schmidt; Christina Gebhard; and Robert C. Fleischer. 2006. "Avian Hematozoa in South America: a Comparison of Temperate and Tropical Zones." Ornithological Monographs , (60): 98-111. doi:10.2307/40166831.
ORCID ID
0000-0002-1270-6727
DOI
10.2307/40166831
Comments
©The American Ornithologists’ Union, 2006.