Bats as Habitats for Their Ectoparasites

Ectoparasites of Paraguayan Bats

Host Characters and Ectoparasite Abundance

Ectoparasite Assemblage Structure

Co-occurrence of Ectoparasites

Host-parasite systems are excellent models to explore questions about factors that affect community and assemblage structure at both evolutionary and ecological scales. Data derived from host-parasite systems may powerfully address ecological questions because they provide a great number of replicates in conjunction with great variation in host or parasite characteristics, which can be used to explore predictions of contemporary (e.g., nestedness, Neutral Theory) and traditional (e.g., Island Biogeography, More Individuals Hypothesis, species-area relationships) ecological and evolutionary theories. Traditionally, these systems have been under-utilized; however, the amount of published research using host-parasite data is increasing quickly. In part, because these systems provide a great deal of flexibility, but also because data can be collected in conjunction with other projects and a great amount of data can be collected quickly and inexpensively. I am currently working on manuscripts involving analysis of effects of host abundance and host size on ectoparasite abundance, richness and diversity. In addition, for some host-ectoparasite relationships I am analyzing patterns of nestedness and co-occurence in an attempt to understand how interspecific interactions effect changes in assemblage structure at multiple scales (i.e., with focus on the host individual, host population, and host meta-population).

Associated Researchers Steven J. Presley Michael R. Willig

Related Publications Presley, S. J.  2005.  Ectoparasitic assemblages of Paraguayan bats: ecological and evolutionary perspectives.  Mastozoología Neotropical 12:103-105. Presley, S. J.  2007.  Streblid bat-fly assemblage structure on Noctilio leporinus (Chiroptera: Noctilionidae): nestedness and species co-occurrence.  Journal of Tropical Ecology 23:409-417. Presley, S. J., and M. R. Willig.  2008. Intraspecific patterns of ectoparasite abundances on Paraguayan bats: effects of host sex and body size.  Journal of Tropical Ecology 24:75-83. Presley, S. J. Interspecific aggregation of ectoparasites on bats: importance of hosts as habitats supersedes interspecific interactions. Oikos 120: 832-841. Presley, S. J. Sex ratios, co-occurrence, and dispersion of arthropod ectoparasites of Neotropical bat hosts. 2012. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (accepted).

Content written by S. J. Presley, please contact at steven.presley@uconn.edu if you have questions, comments, or corrections