Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

    Parasitology. 1998 Dec;117 ( Pt 6):521-4.

    Heteroxenous coccidia increase the predation risk of parasitized rodents.

    Vorísek P, Votýpka J, Zvára K, Svobodová M.

    Czech Society for Ornithology, Prague, Czech Republic.

    We have investigated the influence of heteroxenous coccidia (Apicomplexa: Eimeriorina) on the predation risk of intermediate hosts. Voles infected with Frenkelia spp. were found more frequently in buzzards' (Buteo buteo) prey than among snap-trapped rodents. To eliminate the possibility of traps selecting for uninfected rodents, a laboratory experiment was performed. Mice experimentally infected with Sarcocystis dispersa seemed to be more likely caught by the final host, the long-eared owl (Asio otus); this result was confirmed by a mathematical model. Field data confirmed the adaptive value of parasite-induced changes. The increase of predation is directed towards the specific final host only or is non-specific. In the populations studied the probability of predation of parasitized individuals by the specific predator was increased.

    PMID: 9881375 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

    Supplemental Content