@article{cf1bf6b30cb94b77aef0ab48d9cd6871,
title = "Parasite counts or parasite incidences? Testing differences with four analyses of infracommunity modelling for seven parasite–host associations",
abstract = "One of the challenges in studies of parasite community ecology is whether the input data for analyses should be parasite abundances/counts, i.e. count data (CD), or parasite incidences (presences/absences), i.e. incidence data (ID). We analysed species responses to environmental factors and species associations in the infracommunities of helminths and ectoparasites in four hosts from Europe (Sorex araneus and Myodes glareolus) and South Africa (Rhabdomys pumilio and Rhabdomys dilectus) and compared the results of four analyses [redundancy analysis (RD), RLQ analysis, joint species distribution modelling (JSDM) and Markov random fields (MRF)] that used either CD or ID as an input. In addition, we compared the differences between the CD and ID results of two analyses (JSDM and MRF) across parasite species between (a) host species within helminths and ectoparasites; (b) helminths and ectoparasites within a host species; and (c) parasite species with contrasting levels of intensity. The results of most analyses for the majority of parasite–host associations were qualitatively similar. However, models based on the ID input performed better than models based on the CD input in three out of four types of analyses (RDA, JSDM and MRF). The differences between the CD and ID models varied between host species (being the lowest in R. pumilio for JSDM and in S. araneus for MRF). However, they were not affected by the level of parasite intensity.",
keywords = "Abundance, Ectoparasites, Helminths, Incidence, Modelling",
author = "Krasnov, {Boris R.} and Andrea Spickett and Kerstin Junker and Bugmyrin, {Sergei V.} and Ieshko, {Evgeny P.} and Bespyatova, {Lubov A.} and Michal Stanko and Khokhlova, {Irina S.} and Sonja Matthee",
note = "Funding Information: This study was partly supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 149/17 to BRK and ISK); the Government of the Russian Federation (state project No. 0218–2019-0075 to SVB, LAB and EPI) and the VEGA scientific agency (grant to 2/0014/21 MS). Funding Information: We thank Nicholas J. Clark for his help with the “MRFcov” package. This is publication No. 1097 of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology. In Russia, we thank A.V. Korosov for help with the field work. In South Africa, we thank private landowners and nature reserve authorities for permitting us to conduct fieldwork on their properties, under the following provincial permit numbers: Eastern Cape, CRO37/11CR; KwaZulu-Natal, OP4990/2010; Western Cape, 0035-AAA007-00423; Northern Cape, FAUNA 1076/2011, Free State, 01/8091; Gauteng, CPF 6-0153; and Mpumalanga, MPB. 5331. We also thank G. Froeschke, N. Avenant, M.D. Chipana, J. Coetsee, L. Cohen, N. du Toit, A. Engelbrecht, R.F. Masubelle, C.A. Matthee, L. Richards, L. van der Mescht and V. Haukisalmi for their help with the field and technical work, as well as with helminth identification in South Africa. Financial support for the South African sampling was provided by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Agricultural Research Council–Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and Stellenbosch University. The grant holder acknowledges that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in any publication generated by NRF-supported research are those of the authors and that the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard. Funding Information: We thank Nicholas J. Clark for his help with the “MRFcov” package. This is publication No. 1097 of the Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology. In Russia, we thank A.V. Korosov for help with the field work. In South Africa, we thank private landowners and nature reserve authorities for permitting us to conduct fieldwork on their properties, under the following provincial permit numbers: Eastern Cape, CRO37/11CR; KwaZulu-Natal, OP4990/2010; Western Cape, 0035-AAA007-00423; Northern Cape, FAUNA 1076/2011, Free State, 01/8091; Gauteng, CPF 6-0153; and Mpumalanga, MPB. 5331. We also thank G. Froeschke, N. Avenant, M.D. Chipana, J. Coetsee, L. Cohen, N. du Toit, A. Engelbrecht, R.F. Masubelle, C.A. Matthee, L. Richards, L. van der Mescht and V. Haukisalmi for their help with the field and technical work, as well as with helminth identification in South Africa. Financial support for the South African sampling was provided by the National Research Foundation (NRF), the Agricultural Research Council–Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute and Stellenbosch University. The grant holder acknowledges that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in any publication generated by NRF-supported research are those of the authors and that the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.",
year = "2021",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-021-07217-5",
language = "English",
volume = "120",
pages = "2569--2584",
journal = "Parasitology Research",
issn = "0932-0113",
publisher = "Springer Verlag",
number = "7",
}
