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Human-induced eutrophication maintains high parasite prevalence in breeding threespine stickleback populations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2014

ALEXANDRE BUDRIA  and
ULRIKA CANDOLIN
ALEXANDRE BUDRIA*
Affiliation:
Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
ULRIKA CANDOLIN
Affiliation:
Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland
*
* Corresponding author. Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: alexandre.budria@helsinki.fi
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Summary

Anthropogenic activities are having profound impacts on species interactions, with further consequences for populations and communities. We investigated the influence that anthropogenic eutrophication has on the prevalence of the parasitic tapeworm Schistocephalus solidus in threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus populations. We caught stickleback from four areas along the coast of Finland, and within each area from one undisturbed and one eutrophied habitat. We found the prevalence of the parasite to be lower in the eutrophied habitats at the start of the breeding season, probably because of fewer piscivorous birds that transmit the parasite. However, while the prevalence of the parasite declined across the season in the undisturbed habitat, it did less so in eutrophied habitats. We discuss different processes that could be behind the differences, such as lower predation rate on infected fish, higher food availability and less dispersal in eutrophied habitats. We found no effect of eutrophication on the proportion of infected stickleback that entered reproductive condition. Together with earlier findings, this suggests that eutrophication increases the proportion of infected stickleback that reproduce. This could promote the evolution of less parasite resistant populations, with potential consequences for the viability of the interacting parties of the host–parasite system.

Keywords

body conditionenvironmental changeGasterosteus aculeatushost–parasite interactionpopulation dynamicsreproductionSchistocephalus soliduswater turbidity
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 142 , Issue 5 , April 2015 , pp. 719 - 727
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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