Exploration of interactions between hosts and parasitic symbionts is important for our understanding of the temporal and spatial distribution of organisms. For example, host colonization of new geographical regions may alter levels of infections and parasite specificity, and even allow hosts to escape from co-evolved parasites, consequently shaping spatial distributions and community structure of both host and parasite. Here we investigate the effect of host colonization of new regions and the elevational distribution of host-parasite associations between birds and their vector-transmitted haemosporidian blood parasites in two geological and geographical settings: mountains of New Guinea and the Canary Islands. Our results demonstrate that bird communities in younger regions have significantly lower levels of parasitism compared to those of older regions. Furthermore, host-parasite network analyses demonstrate that blood parasites may respond differently after arriving to a new region, through adaptations that allow for either expanding (Canary Islands) or retaining (New Guinea) their host niches. The spatial prevalence patterns along elevational gradients differed in the two regions, suggesting that region-specific biotic (e.g., host community) and abiotic factors (e.g., temperature) govern prevalence patterns. Our findings suggest that the spatiotemporal range dynamics in host-parasite systems are driven by multiple factors, but that host and parasite community compositions and colonization histories are of particular importance.

Biology Centre of Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Entomology Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic

Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Czech Republic

Macaronesian Institute of Field Ornithology Santa Cruz de Tenerife Canary Islands Spain

Natural History Museum of Denmark University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Natural History Museum University of Oslo Oslo Norway

Section for Ecology and Evolution Department of Biology University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

The New Guinea Binatang Research Centre Madang Papua New Guinea

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