Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites

Nest box supplementation is a widely used technique to aid in the conservation of cavity nesting bird species. However, the criteria to choose the best location for nest boxes has seldom considered the likely exposure of cavity-users to parasites. Birds host an impressive diversity of ectoparasites...

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Autores principales:	Jesús Veiga, Francisco Valera
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Resilience Alliance 2020
Materias:	arid areas <span style="font-style: normal">carnus hemapterus</span> conservation <span style="font-style: normal">coracias garrulus</span> ectoparasite infracommunity nest box nest-site Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/c8b773d00d724da691234340c631131b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:c8b773d00d724da691234340c631131b2021-12-02T14:21:41ZNest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites1712-6568https://doaj.org/article/c8b773d00d724da691234340c631131b2020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ace-eco.org/vol15/iss2/art11/https://doaj.org/toc/1712-6568Nest box supplementation is a widely used technique to aid in the conservation of cavity nesting bird species. However, the criteria to choose the best location for nest boxes has seldom considered the likely exposure of cavity-users to parasites. Birds host an impressive diversity of ectoparasites that may have detrimental effects on their fitness. Here we focus on the ectoparasite infracommunity of a secondary cavity nesting bird species, the European Roller (Coracias garrulus), breeding in nest boxes in a semiarid environment. During three breeding seasons, we examined the composition and abundance of parasites at the nest level and explored their spatial structure and the effect of nest-site type, breeding phenology, and host number (brood mass) on the variability of the infracommunity. Nest location (nest boxes on trees vs nests on cliffs and human constructions) contributed the most to explain differences in prevalence and abundance of the various ectoparasite species during the three years. Host breeding phenology consistently affected the abundance of the most prevalent and abundant ectoparasite (Carnus hemapterus) and also the abundance of biting midges and blackflies, but only during some years. Host brood mass had no significant influence on any ectoparasite. Neither the occurrence nor the abundance of the infracommunity of parasites had a significant spatial structure. This study, performed at the host population scale, reveals that the socioenvironmental characteristics resulting from the selection of nest-site microhabitat explain most of the variation of the ectoparasite infracommunity. Accordingly, nest boxes for vulnerable species should be placed with solid knowledge of the effect of such features.Jesús VeigaFrancisco ValeraResilience Alliancearticlearid areas<span style="font-style: normal">carnus hemapterus</span>conservation<span style="font-style: normal">coracias garrulus</span>ectoparasiteinfracommunitynest boxnest-sitePlant cultureSB1-1110Environmental sciencesGE1-350Plant ecologyQK900-989ENAvian Conservation and Ecology, Vol 15, Iss 2, p 11 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	arid areas <span style="font-style: normal">carnus hemapterus</span> conservation <span style="font-style: normal">coracias garrulus</span> ectoparasite infracommunity nest box nest-site Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989
spellingShingle	arid areas <span style="font-style: normal">carnus hemapterus</span> conservation <span style="font-style: normal">coracias garrulus</span> ectoparasite infracommunity nest box nest-site Plant culture SB1-1110 Environmental sciences GE1-350 Plant ecology QK900-989 Jesús Veiga Francisco Valera Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
description	Nest box supplementation is a widely used technique to aid in the conservation of cavity nesting bird species. However, the criteria to choose the best location for nest boxes has seldom considered the likely exposure of cavity-users to parasites. Birds host an impressive diversity of ectoparasites that may have detrimental effects on their fitness. Here we focus on the ectoparasite infracommunity of a secondary cavity nesting bird species, the European Roller (Coracias garrulus), breeding in nest boxes in a semiarid environment. During three breeding seasons, we examined the composition and abundance of parasites at the nest level and explored their spatial structure and the effect of nest-site type, breeding phenology, and host number (brood mass) on the variability of the infracommunity. Nest location (nest boxes on trees vs nests on cliffs and human constructions) contributed the most to explain differences in prevalence and abundance of the various ectoparasite species during the three years. Host breeding phenology consistently affected the abundance of the most prevalent and abundant ectoparasite (Carnus hemapterus) and also the abundance of biting midges and blackflies, but only during some years. Host brood mass had no significant influence on any ectoparasite. Neither the occurrence nor the abundance of the infracommunity of parasites had a significant spatial structure. This study, performed at the host population scale, reveals that the socioenvironmental characteristics resulting from the selection of nest-site microhabitat explain most of the variation of the ectoparasite infracommunity. Accordingly, nest boxes for vulnerable species should be placed with solid knowledge of the effect of such features.
format	article
author	Jesús Veiga Francisco Valera
author_facet	Jesús Veiga Francisco Valera
author_sort	Jesús Veiga
title	Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
title_short	Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
title_full	Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
title_fullStr	Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
title_full_unstemmed	Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
title_sort	nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites
publisher	Resilience Alliance
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/c8b773d00d724da691234340c631131b
work_keys_str_mv	AT jesusveiga nestboxlocationdeterminestheexposureofthehosttoectoparasites AT franciscovalera nestboxlocationdeterminestheexposureofthehosttoectoparasites
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Nest box location determines the exposure of the host to ectoparasites

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