ArticleOecologia2013
Sex-biased parasitism is not universal: evidence from rodent-flea associations from three biomes.
Article in Oecologia, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- The ectoparasites and gastrointestinal helminths associated with Smith's bush squirrel (Parasitology · 2026Article
- Species Composition, Diversity, Abundance, and Phylogeny of Fleas of Small Mammals in Selected Plague-Endemic and Nonendemic Areas of Tanzania.Journal of parasitology research · 2025Article
- Effects of individual characteristics and seasonality and their interaction on ectoparasite load of Daurian ground squirrels in Inner Mongolia, China.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Article
- Flea Burden on Rodents and Its Associated Determinants in Plague-Endemic Localities of Karatu District, Tanzania: A Cross-Sectional Study.Public health challenges · 2024Article
- Flea infestation of rodent and their community structure in frequent and non-frequent plague outbreak areas in Mbulu district, northern Tanzania.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Review
- Trypanosome diversity in small mammals in Uganda and the spread of Trypanosoma lewisi to native species.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- Article
- Host body mass, not sex, affects ectoparasite loads in yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis.Parasitology research · 2023Article
- Influence of biotic and abiotic factors on flea species population dynamics onInternational journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2023Article
- Sex-biased infections scale to population impacts for an emerging wildlife disease.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Host-Parasite Relationship-Nematode Communities in Populations of Small Mammals.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Ecological correlates of ectoparasite load in a rodent: Complex roles of seasonality.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2022Article
- Article
- Interactive effects of biological, human and environmental factors on tick loads in Boran cattle in tropical drylands.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- The Scent of Life: Phoretic Nematodes Use Wasp Volatiles and Carbon Dioxide to Choose Functional Vehicles for Dispersal.Journal of chemical ecology · 2021Article
- Patterns of flea infestation in rodents and insectivores from intensified agro-ecosystems, Northwest Spain.Parasites & vectors · 2021Article
- Rodents as Hosts of Pathogens and Related Zoonotic Disease Risk.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Host biology and environmental variables differentially predict flea abundances for two rodent hosts in a plague-relevant system.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2019Article
- The fauna and perspective of rodentia ectoparasites in Iran relying on their roles within public health and veterinary characteristics.Journal of parasitic diseases : official organ of the Indian Society for Parasitology · 2018Review
- Large mammal declines and the incipient loss of mammal-bird mutualisms in an African savanna ecosystem.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 7 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The distribution of parasites among individual hosts is characterised by high variability that is believed to be a result of variations in host traits. To find general patterns of host traits affecting parasite abundance, we studied flea infestation of nine rodent species from three different biomes (temperate zone of central Europe, desert of Middle East and tropics of East Africa). We tested for independent and interactive effects of host sex and body mass on the number of fleas harboured by an individual host while accounting for spatial clustering of host and parasite sampling and temporal variation. We found no consistent patterns of the effect of host sex and body mass on flea abundance either among species within a biome or among biomes. We found evidence for sex-biased flea infestation in just five host species (Apodemus agrarius, Myodes glareolus, Microtus arvalis, Gerbillus andersoni, Mastomys natalensis). In six rodent species, we found an effect of body mass on flea abundance (all species mentioned above and Meriones crassus). This effect was positive in five species and negative in one species (Microtus arvalis). In M. glareolus, G. andersoni, M. natalensis, and M. arvalis, the relationship between body mass and flea abundance was mediated by host sex. This was manifested in steeper change in flea abundance with increasing body mass in male than female individuals (M. glareolus, G. andersoni, M. natalensis), whereas the opposite pattern was found in M. arvalis. Our findings suggest that sex and body mass are common determinants of parasite infestation in mammalian hosts, but neither of them follows universal rules. This implies that the effect of host individual characteristics on mechanisms responsible for flea acquisition may be manifested differently in different host species.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.