Diversity and Host Specificity of Avian Haemosporidians in an Afrotropical Conservation Region

Abstract

Afrotropical regions have high bird diversity, yet few studies have attempted to unravel the prevalence of avian haemosporidia in conservation areas. The diversity and host specificity of parasites in biodiversity hotspots is crucial to understanding parasite distribution and potential disease emergence. We test the hypothesis that biodiverse regions are associated with highly diverse parasites. By targeting the cytochrome b (<i>Cytb</i>) gene, we molecularly screened 1035 blood samples from 55 bird species for avian haemosporidia infections to determine its prevalence and diversity on sites inside and adjacent to the Kruger National Park. Overall infection prevalence was 28.41%. <i>Haemoproteus</i>, <i>Leucocytozoon,</i> and <i>Plasmodium</i> presented prevalences of 17.39%, 9.24%, and 4.64%, respectively. One hundred distinct parasite lineages were detected, of which 56 were new lineages. <i>Haemoproteus</i> also presented the highest diversity compared to <i>Leucocytozoon</i> and <i>Plasmodium</i> with varying levels of specificity. <i>Haemoproteus</i> lineages were found to be specialists while <i>Plasmodium</i> and <i>Leucocytozoon</i> lineages were generalists. We also found a positive relationship between avian host diversity and parasite diversity, supporting an amplification effect. These findings provide insight data for host-parasite and co-evolutionary relationship models.