Ecology of nematode parasitism in red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) in Spain

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Millán, Javier Gortázar, Christian Villafuerte, Rafael
Copyright Year	2004
Abstract	Summary …………. We examined the nematode fauna of 79 shot red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) from Southern Spain. Four species (Trichostrongylus tenuis, Heterakis gallinarum, Cyrnea seurati, and Cheilospirura gruveli) were recorded, C. gruveli being identified as the core species of this population. Trichostrongylus tenuis showed higher prevalence and abundance in adults than in juveniles. The infection with C. gruveli increased with age in females but decreased in males. The occurrence of C. gruveli and C. seurati in individual partridges was not independent in juveniles. The C. gruveli population was female-biased, more markedly at high intensities. The presence of spirurid eggs in faeces and C. gruveli females was not independent in ju veniles and showed the same trend in adults. The abundance of C. gruveli was positively correlated with the gizzard weight in juvenile partridges. Juvenile females parasitised by C. gruveli had a heavier spleen than those nonparasitised. Adult partridges harbouring C. gruveli were in poorer body condi-tion than those free of the parasite. about the structure, ecology, and host-parasite relationships of the helminth communities of wild red-legged partridge populations. This contrasts with other galliform species, whose helminth ecology has been thoroughly studied (Davidson et al. , 1980; Shaw and Moss, 1989; Rizzoli et al. , 1997; Holmstad and Skorping, 1998). The availability of such information has fostered the investigations into the role of nematodes in their host’s population dynamics (e.g. Hudson and Dobson, 1997). The present study is part of a long-term investigation on red-legged partridge ecology and diseases. The objectives of this work were to: i) determine the composition of the nematode community of a natural population of this species in the southernmost range of its distribution; ii) investigate characteristics of the ecology of the nematode community, such as species associations, sex ratios, or parasite fecundity; and iii) obtain information on nematode distribution depending on its host’s sex and age classes, niche size, or host body condition.
Starting Page	33
Ending Page	37
Page Count	5
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Volume Number	41
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://www.saske.sk/pau/helminthologia/2004_1/Millan33.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article