RT Journal Article
T1 Repeatability of feather mite prevalence and intensity in passerine birds
A1 Díaz-Real, Javier
A1 Serrano, David
A1 Pérez Tris, Javier
A1 Fernández González, Sofía
A1 Bermejo, Ana
A1 Calleja, Juan A.
A1 Puente, Javier de la
A1 Palacio, Diana de
A1 Martínez, José L.
A1 Moreno-Opo Díaz-Meco, Rubén
A1 Ponce, Carlos
A1 Frías, Óscar
A1 Tella, José L.
A1 Møller, Anders P
A1 Figuerola, Jordi
A1 Pap, Peter  L:
A1 Kovács, István
A1 Vágási, Csongor I.
A1 Meléndez, Leandro
A1 Blanco, Guillermo
A1 Aguilera, Eduardo
A1 Senar, Juan Carlos
A1 Galván, Ismael
A1 Atiénzar, Francisco
A1 Barba, Emilio
A1 Cantó, José L.
A1 Cortés, Verónica
A1 Monrós, Juan S.
A1 Piculo, Rubén
A1 Vögeli, Matthias
A1 Borrás, Antoni
A1 Navarro, Carlos
A1 Mestre, Alexandre
A1 Jovani, Roger
AB Understanding why host species differ so much in symbiont loads and how this depends on ecological host and symbiont traits is a major issue in the ecology of symbiosis. A first step in this inquiry is to know whether observed differences among host species are species-specific traits or more related with host-symbiont environmental conditions. Here we analysed the repeatability (R) of the intensity and the prevalence of feather mites to partition within- and among-host species variance components. We compiled the largest dataset so far available: 119 Paleartic passerine bird species, 75,944 individual birds, ca. 1.8 million mites, seven countries, 23 study years. Several analyses and approaches were made to estimate R and adjusted repeatability (Radj) after controlling for potential confounding factors (breeding period, weather, habitat, spatial autocorrelation and researcher identity). The prevalence of feather mites was moderately repeatable (R = 0.26–0.53; Radj = 0.32–0.57); smaller values were found for intensity (R = 0.19–0.30; Radj = 0.18–0.30). These moderate repeatabilities show that prevalence and intensity of feather mites differ among species, but also that the high variation within species leads to considerable overlap among bird species. Differences in the prevalence and intensity of feather mites within bird species were small among habitats, suggesting that local factors are playing a secondary role. However, effects of local climatic conditions were partially observed for intensity.
PB Public Library of Science
SN 1932-6203
YR 2014
FD 2014
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/35636
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/35636
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España)
NO Junta de Andalucía
NO Babes¸-Bolyai University
NO Romanian Ministry of Education and Research
DS Docta Complutense
RD 15 dic 2025