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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The Ecology And Feeding Behavior Of Mosquitoes In The Galapagos Islands, Samoa S. Asigau
The Ecology And Feeding Behavior Of Mosquitoes In The Galapagos Islands, Samoa S. Asigau
Dissertations
Mosquitoes remain important vectors in transmitting wildlife diseases. This dissertation aims to understand the role that mosquitoes play in transmitting wildlife diseases such as avian malaria, a protozoan parasite belonging to the genus Plasmodium. Using data from wild-caught mosquitoes captured in multiple years and across multiple islands on the Galapagos Archipelago, we describe distributional patterns of mosquitoes, their range limits and assess whether there exists a disease-free refuge as occurs in Hawaii. We show that altitudinal ranges for disease transmission of avian malaria may not be bounded by a stable disease-free refuge, since mosquitoes are found at all elevations, …
Haemosporidian Parasites And Host Immune Function Of Galapagos Avifauna, Maricruz Jaramillo
Haemosporidian Parasites And Host Immune Function Of Galapagos Avifauna, Maricruz Jaramillo
Dissertations
The large number of emergent infectious diseases witnessed in the past few decades has increased interest in the ecology and distribution of potentially threatening pathogens worldwide. Island species are often considered more vulnerable to parasites due to their impoverished parasite communities, long isolation from disease and low genetic diversity. Avian surveys done by our group on the Galapagos Islands have found various pathogens infecting their endemic avifauna, including haemosporidian parasites of the genera Plasmodium and Haemoproteus. My research seeks to understand the relationships between two haemosporidian parasites (blood parasites) and their multiple bird hosts in Galapagos and to explore …