Metagonimoides oregonensis (Heterophyidae) is a little-known digenetic trematode that uses raccoons and possibly mink as definitive hosts, and stream snails and amphibians as intermediate hosts. Some variation in the life cycle and adult morphology in western and eastern populations has been previously noted. In the southern Appalachians, Pleurocera snails and stream salamanders, e.g., Desmognathus spp., are used as intermediate hosts in the life cycle. We completed a series of studies in this system examining some aspects of larval trematode morphology and first and second intermediate host use. Molecular sequencing of the 28S rDNA of cercariae in our survey placed them clearly within the heterophyid family. However, light and scanning electron microscopy revealed both lateral and dorso-ventral finfolds on the cercariae in our region, whereas original descriptions of M. oregonensis cercariae from the west coast indicate only a dorso-ventral finfold, so further work on the systematics of this group may be warranted. A survey of first intermediate host, Pleurocera proxima, from 7 streams in the region identified only M. oregonensis, virgulate-type cercariae, and cotylomicrocercous-type cercariae in the streams, with M. oregonensis having the highest prevalence, and the only type present that use amphibians as second intermediate hosts. Based on clearing and staining of 6 Desmognathus quadramaculatus salamander larvae, we found that individual salamanders could have over 600 metacercariae, which form between muscle fibers throughout the body. Histological observations suggest that the metacercariae do not cause excessive tissue damage or inflammation, and likely persist through metamorphosis, thereby transmitting potentially large numbers of worms to definitive host raccoons foraging along streams.
Mortality (e.g. predation, disturbance) is often thought to lower the intensity of interspecific competition and thereby promote the coexistence of competing species. However, surprisingly few tests of this idea exist, especially for metazoans feeding on a self‐renewing resource. Here we examined the effect of density‐independent mortality on the coexistence of four species of pond zooplankton (microcrustacean grazers) in a series of laboratory microcosms. Across the experimental mortality gradient, consumer biomass decreased and resource abundance increased with an increase in mortality. Thus, the treatments resulted in an increase in resource availability per consumer (one measure of reduced competitive intensity). There was no significant effect of mortality treatment on species relative abundances or species evenness, and the zooplankter Diaphanosoma dominated community biomass at all mortality levels. Mortality rate did have a marginally significant effect on species richness (p<0.07), but richness did not increase monotonically with mortality level. Instead, richness tended to be highest in the low‐ and no‐mortality treatments.
Physiological tolerances play a key role in determining species distributions and abundance across a landscape, and understanding these tolerances can therefore be useful in predicting future changes in species distributions that might occur. Vertebrates possess several highly conserved physiological mechanisms for coping with environmental stressors, including the hormonal stress response that involves an endocrine cascade resulting in the increased production of glucocorticoids. We examined the function of this endocrine axis by assessing both baseline and acute stress-induced concentrations of corticosterone in larvae from eight natural breeding populations of Jefferson's salamander Ambystoma jeffersonianum. We surveyed individuals from each pond and also examined a variety of environmental pond parameters. We found that baseline and stress-induced corticosterone concentrations differed significantly among ponds. Population-level baseline corticosterone concentrations were negatively related to pH and positively related to nitrate, and stress-induced concentrations were again negatively related to pH, positively related to nitrate, and positively related to temperature. We followed the field survey with an outdoor mesocosm experiment in which we manipulated pH and again examined baseline and acute stress-induced corticosterone in A. jeffersonianum larvae. As in the field survey, we observed an increase in the baseline corticosterone concentration of individuals exposed to the lowest pH treatment (pH 5-5.8). Examining physiological indices using a combined approach of field surveys and experiments can be a powerful tool for trying to unravel the complexities of environmental impacts on species distributions.
Host species that are particularly abundant, infectious and/or infected tend to contribute disproportionately to symbiont (parasite or mutualist) maintenance in multi-host systems. Therefore, in a facultative multi-host system where two host species had high densities, high symbiont infestation intensities and high infestation prevalence, we expected interspecific transmission rates to be high. Instead, we found that interspecific symbiont transmission rates to caged sentinel hosts were an order of magnitude lower than intraspecific transmission rates in the wild. Using laboratory experiments to decompose transmission rates, we found that opportunities for interspecific transmission were frequent, where interspecific and intraspecific contact rate functions were statistically indistinguishable. However, most interspecific contacts did not lead to transmission events owing to a previously unrecognized transmission barrier: strong host preferences. During laboratory choice experiments, the symbiont preferred staying on or dispersing to its current host species, even though the oligochaete symbiont is a globally distributed host generalist that can survive and reproduce on many snail host species. These surprising results suggest that when managing symbiont transmission, identifying key host species is still important, but it may be equally important to identify and manage transmission barriers that keep potential superspreader host species in check.
