BACKGROUND: Platyhelminthes are common parasites of diurnal birds of prey, including common buzzard (Buteo buteo). They are widely distributed in Europe. Despite the extensive study of flatworms across the continent, this study represents the first report for Romania and extends the biogeographic knowledge of Platyhelminthes in diurnal raptors. It also identifies common buzzards as a new host of Parastrigea flexilis in Europe. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2017 and 2020, 63 common buzzards (Buteo buteo) found road killed or dead due to other causes were collected from Romania. All specimens were necropsied and examined for internal helminths, which were preserved in ethanol for molecular identification and formaldehyde for morphological identification. RESULTS: Species identified included Cestoda: Cladotaenia globifera (33.3%) and five species of Trematoda: Neodiplostomum attenuatum (12.7%), Strigea falconis (6.4%), Parastrigea flexilis (3.2%), Neodiplostomum spathoides (3.2%) and Brachylaima fuscata (1.6%). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new data about diversity, phylogenetics and geographical distribution of Platyhelminthes parasitizing Buteo buteo in Romania. To our best knowledge, it identifies B. buteo as a new host of Parastrigea flexilis and reports the first genetic sequence of Neodiplostomum spathoides.

• Klíčová slova
• Cestodes, Common buzzard, Romania, Trematodes,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Strigea falconis is a common parasite of birds of prey and owls widely distributed in the Holarctic. We aimed to characterise S. falconis from Iceland via integrative taxonomic approach and to contribute to the understanding of its circulation in the Holarctic. We recovered adult S. falconis from two gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus) collected in 2011 and 2012 in Iceland (Reykjanes Peninsula, Westfjords) and characterised them by morphological and molecular genetic (D2 of rDNA, cox1, ND1 of the mDNA) methods. We provide the first species record of S. falconis in Iceland which to the best of our knowledge is its northernmost distributional range. The presence of S. falconis in Iceland is surprising, as there are no suitable intermediate hosts allowing completion of its life cycle. Gyrfalcons are fully sedentary in Iceland; thus, the only plausible explanation is that they acquired their infection by preying upon migratory birds arriving from Europe. Our data indicate that the most likely candidates are Anseriformes and Charadriiformes. Also, we corroborate the wide geographical distribution of S. falconis, as we found a high degree of similarity between our haplotypes and sequences of mesocercariae from frogs in France and of a metacercaria from Turdus naumanni in Japan, and adults from Buteo buteo and Circus aeruginosus from the Czech Republic. The case of Strigea falconis shows the advantages of a complex life cycle and also depicts its pitfalls when a parasite is introduced to a new area with no suitable intermediate hosts. In Iceland, gyrfalcons are apparently dead-end hosts for S. falconis.

• Klíčová slova
• Digenea, Gyrfalcon, Life cycle, Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, Raptors, Trematoda,
• MeSH
• Falconiformes * MeSH
• stadia vývoje MeSH
• Trematoda * genetika   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa MeSH
• Island epidemiologie   MeSH

BACKGROUND: The biodiversity of farmland habitats is witnessing unprecedented change, mostly in declines and simplification of assemblages that were established during centuries of the use of traditional agricultural techniques. In Central Europe, conspicuous changes are evident in populations of common farmland birds, in strong contrast to forest birds in the same region. However, there is a lack of information on longitudinal changes in trematodes that are associated with common farmland birds, despite the fact that diversity of trematodes is directly linked to the preservation of long-established food webs and habitat use adaptations of their hosts. METHODS: We analyzed the population trends of trematodes for the period 1963-2020 in six bird species that use Central European farmlands as their predominant feeding habitats. Namely, we examined Falco tinnunculus, Vanellus vanellus, winter populations of Buteo buteo, Ciconia ciconia, extravilan population of Pica pica, and Asio otus, all originating from the Czech Republic. RESULTS: We observed dramatic population losses of all trematode species in C. ciconia and V. vanellus; the changes were less prominent in the other examined hosts. Importantly, the declines in prevalence and intensity of infection affected all previously dominant species. These included Tylodelphys excavata and Chaunocephalus ferox in C. ciconia, Lyperosomum petiolatum in P. pica, Strigea strigis in A. otus, Neodiplostomum attenuatum and Strigea falconis in B. buteo (χ2 test P < 0.001 each), and Echinoparyphium agnatum and Uvitellina adelpha in V. vanellus (completely absent in 2011-2000). In contrast, the frequency and spectrum of isolated records of trematode species did not change to any large extent except those in V. vanellus. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis of six unrelated common bird species that use farmlands as their feeding habitats revealed a previously unreported collapse of previously dominant trematode species. The previously dominant trematode species declined in terms of both prevalence and intensity of infection. The causes of the observed declines are unclear; of note is, however, that some of the broadly used agrochemicals, such as azole fungicides, are well known for their antihelminthic activity. Further research is needed to provide direct evidence for effects of field-realistic concentrations of azole fungicides on the survival and fitness of trematodes.

• Klíčová slova
• Agricultural landscapes, Biodiversity decline, Common farmland birds, Helminths, Population dynamics, Trematoda,
• MeSH
• farmy MeSH
• infekce červy třídy Trematoda epidemiologie   veterinární   MeSH
• nemoci ptáků epidemiologie   parazitologie   MeSH
• prevalence MeSH
• ptáci MeSH
• stravovací zvyklosti MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa epidemiologie   MeSH