Helminth Community Dynamics in Populations of Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors) Using Two Distinct Migratory Corridors.pdfVIP

Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Parasitology Research Volume 2011, Article ID 306257, 9 pages doi:10.1155/2011/306257 Research Article Helminth Community Dynamics in Populations of Blue-Winged Teal (Anas discors ) Using Two Distinct Migratory Corridors Jason M. Garvon,1, 2 Alan M. Fedynich,1 Markus J. Peterson,3 and Danny B. Pence4 1 Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas AM University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA 2 Department of Biology, Lake Superior State University, 650 W. Easterday Avenue, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, USA 3 Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas AM University, College Station, TX 77843, USA 4 1616 Blackburn Fork Road, Cookeville, TN 38501, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Jason M. Garvon, jgarvon@ Received 2 November 2010; Revised 12 January 2011; Accepted 4 February 2011 Academic Editor: Benjamin M. Rosenthal Copyright © 2011 Jason M. Garvon et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The influence of spatially distinct host subpopulations on helminth community structure and pattern was examined in a migratory avian host species. Forty helminth species represented by 24,082 individuals were collected from 184 blue-winged teal (Anas discors; BWT) from 2 primary migratory corridors in Florida (eastern migratory corridor; EMC) and Louisiana and Texas (western migratory corridor; WMC). Mean species richness was greater in BWT from the WMC (x ± S.E = 10.2 ± 0.3 species) than the EMC (8.6 ± 0.2). The helminth community from the WMC had higher abundances of 6 common/intermediate species. Corridor