Prevalence and diversity of avian haemosporidians may vary with anthropogenic disturbance in tropical habitats in myanmar

• Avian malaria and related haemosporidians (genera Haemoproteus, Plasmodium and Leu-cocytozoon) infect most clades of bird. Although these parasites are present in almost all continents, they have been irregularly studied across different geographical regions. Despite the high bird diversity in Asia, the diversity of avian haemosporidians in this region is largely unknown. Moreover, anthropogenic changes to habitats in tropical regions may have a profound impact on the overall composition of haemosporidian communities. Here we analyzed the diversity and host association of bird haemosporidians from areas with different degrees of anthropogenic disturbance in Myan-mar, revealing an unexplored diversity of these parasites (27% of newly-discovered haemosporid-ian lineages, and 64% of new records of host–parasite assemblages) in these tropical environments. This newly discovered diversity will be valuable for detecting host range and transmission areas of haemosporidian parasites. We also found slightly higher haemosporidian prevalence and diversity in birds from paddy fields than in individuals from urban areas and hills, thus implying that human alteration of natural environments may affect the dynamics of vector-borne diseases. These outcomes provide valuable insights for biodiversity conservation management in threatened tropical ecosystems.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Evolutionsbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Evolutionary Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Avian malaria

Blood parasites

Coastal environments

Cytochrome b

Land-use types

Paddy fields

Southeast Asia

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)