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Similarity in ixodid tick communities harboured by wildlife and livestock in the Albany Thicket Biome of South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2022

Ivan G. Horak ,
Kerstin Junker Open the ORCID record for Kerstin Junker [Opens in a new window]  and
Boris R. Krasnov Open the ORCID record for Boris R. Krasnov [Opens in a new window]
Ivan G. Horak
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
Kerstin Junker*
Affiliation:
National Collection of Animal Helminths, Epidemiology, Parasites and Vectors Programme, ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Private Bag X05, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa
Boris R. Krasnov
Affiliation:
Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 8499000 Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
*
Author for correspondence: Kerstin Junker, E-mail: junkerk@arc.agric.za
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Abstract

South Africa has a diverse fauna of ixodid tick species, several of which are of medical or veterinary importance. Elucidation of which host or environmental characteristics determine the composition and abundance of tick assemblages is, therefore, highly relevant to disease management and wildlife conservation efforts. Here, we analysed the similarity in ixodid tick assemblages of three wildlife and three livestock species in a natural (Great Fish River Reserve) and anthropogenic (an adjacent farm) habitat in South Africa. We compared tick infracommunities of three wild host species between the reserve and the farm; of three wild host species within the reserve and of wild and livestock species on the farm (considering body size). Hosts examined in this study harboured the adults and immature stages of 11 tick species belonging to five ixodid genera. Notably, several tick species of South African wildlife have successfully made the switch to livestock and thus both wild hosts and livestock now contribute to the pool of maintenance hosts for these ticks as well as their associated pathogens. This is an important consideration when translocating wildlife or livestock as part of farming or conservation activities.

Keywords

Analysis of similaritiesIxodidaelivestockSouth Africatick infracommunitieswildlife
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 149 , Issue 5 , April 2022 , pp. 667 - 674
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

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