Abstract：
We searched for common patterns in parasite ecology by investigating species and host contributions to the beta-diversity of infracommunities (=assemblages of parasites harboured by a host individual) in helminths of three species of South African ungulates and fleas of 11 species of South American rodents, assuming that a comparison of patterns in distinctly different parasites and hosts would allow us to judge the generality or, at least, commonness of these patterns. We used data on species\' composition and numbers of parasites and asked whether (i) parasite species\' attributes (life cycle, transmission mode, and host specificity in helminths; possession of sclerotized combs, microhabitat preference, and host specificity in fleas) or their population structure (mean abundance and/or prevalence) and (ii) host characteristics (sex and age) affect parasite and host species\' contributions to parasite beta-diversity (SCBD and HCBD, respectively). We found that parasite species\' morphological and ecological attributes were mostly not associated with their SCBD. In contrast, parasite SCBD, in both ungulates and rodents, significantly increased with either parasite mean abundance or prevalence or both. The effect of host characteristics on HCBD was detected in a few hosts only. In general, parasite infracommunities\' beta-diversity appeared to be driven by variation in parasite species rather than the uniqueness of the assemblages harboured by individual hosts. We conclude that some ecological patterns (such as the relationships between SCBD and parasite abundance/prevalence) appear to be common and do not differ between different host-parasite associations in different geographic regions, whereas other patterns (the relationships between SCBD and parasite species\' attributes) are contingent and depend on parasite and host identities.
摘要：
我们通过调查三种南非有蹄类动物的蠕虫和11种南美啮齿动物的跳蚤中的物种和寄主对下社区的β多样性（=寄主个体所携带的寄生虫的组合）的物种和寄主对寄生虫生态学的共同模式，假设比较明显不同的寄生虫和宿主的模式将使我们能够判断一般性或，至少,这些模式的共性。我们使用了关于寄生虫物种组成和数量的数据，并询问(i)寄生虫物种属性(生命周期，传输模式,和宿主在蠕虫中的特异性；拥有硬化的梳子，微生境偏好，和跳蚤中的宿主特异性)或其种群结构(平均丰度和/或患病率)和(ii)宿主特征(性别和年龄)影响寄生虫和宿主物种对寄生虫β-多样性的贡献(SCBD和六氯丁二烯,分别)。我们发现寄生虫物种的形态和生态属性大多与其SCBD无关。相比之下,寄生虫SCBD,有蹄类动物和啮齿动物，随着寄生虫的平均丰度或患病率或两者兼而有之，显着增加。仅在少数宿主中检测到宿主特征对六氯丁二烯的影响。总的来说,寄生虫群落β多样性似乎是由寄生虫物种的变化驱动的，而不是单个宿主所拥有的组合的独特性。我们得出的结论是，某些生态模式（例如SCBD与寄生虫丰度/患病率之间的关系）似乎是常见的，并且在不同地理区域的不同宿主-寄生虫协会之间没有差异。而其他模式(SCBD和寄生虫物种属性之间的关系)是偶然的，取决于寄生虫和宿主的身份。
