The prevalence and molecular characterisation of blood parasites infecting the vulnerable Tamarugo Conebill (Conirostrum tamarugense) and other birds in the Pampa del Tamarugal, Chile
Javier Martínez A D , Rodrigo A. Vásquez B , Alberto Marqués A , Alazne Díez-Fernández C and Santiago Merino B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Departamento de Biomedicina y Biotecnología, Área Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, E-28871 Madrid, Spain.
B Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile.
C Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales – Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, J. Gutiérrez Abascal 2, E-28006 Madrid, Spain.
D Corresponding author. Email: francisco.martinez@uah.es
Emu 116(3) 310-314 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU15090
Submitted: 2 June 2015 Accepted: 5 February 2016 Published: 13 April 2016
Abstract
Blood parasites exert significant selective pressure, which can alter population dynamics, and the introduction of new parasite lineages in a region could lead to the extinction of endemic avian species that have not coevolved with them. The avifauna of the Pampa del Tamarugal in the desert of Atacama, Chile, is highly depauperate, with two species accounting for the greatest numbers: the widespread Rufous-collared Sparrow (Zonotrichia capensis) and the endemic Tamarugo Conebill (Conirostrum tamarugense). We used molecular and microscopic methods to estimate the prevalence of haemoparasites in birds inhabiting the Pampa del Tamarugal. The molecular screening of the samples from the most common species indicated that the Tamarugo Conebill was only infected by parasites of the genus Leucocytozoon (prevalence 3.5%) and the Rufous-collared Sparrow was uninfected. Only two other bird species (of a total of seven) were infected, the House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), by Plasmodium relictum (prevalence 30%), and the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata), by Haemoproteus multipigmentatus (prevalence 100%). The occurrence of House Sparrows infected with the Plasmodium haplotype GRW4 (involved in Hawaiian bird extinctions) may entail the risk of potential host-switching, something particularly relevant for the conservation of the endemic and vulnerable Tamarugo Conebill.
Additional keywords: avian malaria, haplotype GRW4, host-switching, House Sparrow, Plasmodium, Leucocytozoon.
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