Relationships between functional alpha- and beta-diversities of flea parasites and their small mammalian hosts

KRASBOV, B. R.; KHOKHLOVA, I. S.; LOPEZ BERRIZBEITIA, M. F.; MATTHEE, S.; SANCHEZ, JULIANA P.; SHENBROT, G.; VAN DER MESCHT, L.

PARASITOLOGY

CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Cambridge; Año: 2024

0031-1820

We studied the relationships between functional alpha and betadiversities of fleas and their small mammalian hosts in fourbiogeographic realms (the Afrotropics, the Nearctic, the Neotropics, andthe Palearctic), considering three components of alpha diversity(functional richness, divergence, and regularity). We asked whether (a)flea alpha and beta diversities are driven by host alpha and betadiversities; (b) the variation in the off-host environment affects variationin flea alpha and beta diversities; and (c) the pattern of the relationshipbetween flea and host alpha or beta diversities differs betweengeographic realms. We analysed alpha diversity using modifiedphylogenetic generalised least squares and beta diversity using modifiedphylogenetic generalised dissimilarity modelling. In all realms, fleafunctional richness and regularity increased with an increase in hostfunctional richness and regularity, respectively, whereas flea functionaldivergence correlated positively with host functional divergence in theNearctic only. Environmental effects on the components of flea alphadiversity were found only in the Holarctic realms. Host functional betadiversity was invariantly the best predictor of flea functional betadiversity in all realms, whereas the effects of environmental variables onflea functional beta diversity were much weaker and differed betweenrealms. We conclude that flea functional diversity is mostly driven byhost functional diversity, whereas the environmental effects on fleafunctional diversity vary (a) geographically and (b) between componentsof functional alpha diversity.