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Host and parasite recruitment correlated at a regional scale

  • Population ecology - Original research
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Abstract

Drivers of large-scale variability in parasite prevalence are not well understood. For logistical reasons, explorations of spatial patterns in parasites are often performed as observational studies. However, to understand the mechanisms that underlie these spatial patterns, standardized and controlled comparisons are needed. Here, we examined spatial variability in infection of an important fishery species and ecosystem engineer, the oyster (Crassostrea virginica) by its pea crab parasite (Zaops ostreus) across 700 km of the southeastern USA coastline. To minimize the influence of host genetics on infection patterns, we obtained juvenile oysters from a homogeneous source stock and raised them in situ for 3 months at multiple sites with similar environmental characteristics. We found that prevalence of pea crab infection varied between 24 and 73 % across sites, but not systematically across latitude. Of all measured environmental variables, oyster recruitment correlated most strongly (and positively) with pea crab infection, explaining 92 % of the variability in infection across sites. Our data ostensibly suggest that regional processes driving variation in oyster recruitment similarly affect the recruitment of one of its common parasites.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Luke Dodd, H. Garland, P. Langdon, Jenna Malek, E. Pettis, Walt Rogers, and Heidi Weiskel for help in the field and Tom McCrudden for spawning and growing our hatchery oyster spat. This work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF-OCE-0961853).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

    James E. Byers

  2. Marine Science Center, Northeastern University, 430 Nahant Rd., Nahant, MA, 01908, USA

    Tanya L. Rogers, Jonathan H. Grabowski, A. Randall Hughes & David L. Kimbro

  3. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Institute of Marine Sciences, 3431 Arendell St., Morehead City, NC, 28557, USA

    Michael F. Piehler

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  1. James E. Byers
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  2. Tanya L. Rogers
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  3. Jonathan H. Grabowski
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  4. A. Randall Hughes
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  5. Michael F. Piehler
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  6. David L. Kimbro
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Correspondence to James E. Byers.

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Communicated by Jeff Shima.

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Byers, J.E., Rogers, T.L., Grabowski, J.H. et al. Host and parasite recruitment correlated at a regional scale. Oecologia 174, 731–738 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2809-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2809-2

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