Human-induced climate change is expected to cause major biotic changes in species distributions and thereby including escalation of novel host-parasite associations. Closely related host species that come into secondary contact are especially likely to exchange parasites and pathogens. Both the Enemy Release Hypothesis (where invading hosts escape their original parasites) and the Novel Weapon Hypothesis (where invading hosts bring new parasites that have detrimental effects on native hosts) predict that the local host will be most likely to experience a disadvantage. However, few studies evaluate the occurrence of interspecific parasite transfer by performing wide-scale geographic sampling of pathogen lineages, both within and far from host contact zones. In this study, we investigate how haemosporidian (avian malaria) prevalence and lineage diversity vary in two, closely related species of passerine birds; the pied flycatcher Ficedula hypoleuca and the collared flycatcher F. albicollis in both allopatry and sympatry. We find that host species is generally a better predictor of parasite diversity than location, but both prevalence and diversity of parasites vary widely among populations of the same bird species. We also find a limited and unidirectional transfer of parasites from pied flycatchers to collared flycatchers in a recent contact zone. This study therefore rejects both the Enemy Release Hypothesis and the Novel Weapon Hypothesis and highlights the complexity and importance of studying host-parasite relationships in an era of global climate change and species range shifts.

• Klíčová slova
• Ficedula, avian malaria, community ecology, parasitology, range expansion,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Hybrid zones are often found in areas where the environmental characteristics of native habitat of both parental species meet. One of the plausible mechanisms that maintain species distinctiveness, or limit hybridization, is the existence of local species-specific preferences for the natal habitat type. We evaluated this hypothesis for two passerine bird species, the pied Ficedula hypoleuca and collared flycatcher F. albicollis, in their narrow hybrid zone in Central Europe. Both species have quite distinct habitat distributions, and they have also been reported to differ in their foraging niches. In a series of aviary experiments, we demonstrated that both species show distinct preferences for trees from their native area. The pied flycatcher preferred coniferous vegetation, while the collared flycatcher favored deciduous vegetation. In addition, both species differed in foraging substrate preferences. The pied flycatcher preferred to forage in the lower strata on the ground than the canopy, whereas the collared flycatcher foraged more at the canopy level. Both males and females of each species were highly consistent in their preference patterns. Due to the widespread nature of hybrid zones as places with transitional habitat features and the well-known habitat tight associations of various animal taxa with particular habitat types, we propose that habitat preferences might be an important and common mechanism that enhances the formation of conspecific pairs.

• MeSH
• aklimatizace MeSH
• bydlení zvířat * MeSH
• druhová specificita MeSH
• ekosystém * MeSH
• hnízdění MeSH
• stromy MeSH
• výběrové chování MeSH
• zeměpis MeSH
• zpěvní ptáci klasifikace   fyziologie   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa MeSH