Avian Haemosporidian Diversity in South Texas: New Lineages and Variation in Prevalence between Sampling Sources and Sites

Abstract

Avian haemosporidian parasites (Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium) in Texas are relatively understudied for such a large geographic area with diverse ecoregions. Our study sites in south Texas, located in two adjacent ecoregions, present the opportunity for investigating patterns and possible causes of infections between habitats, and characterizing the baseline makeup of the avian malaria community. We assessed the avian haemosporidian community using their mtDNA cytb gene in 576 birds, 25.69% of which were infected. The overall detection rate was much higher from blood samples than tissue samples, and the more arid ecoregion had a significantly lower overall prevalence. Findings also revealed significantly lower Plasmodium infections in the more arid ecoregion. We identified 25 novel lineages which included 16 Haemoproteus, 2 Leucocytozoon, and 7 Plasmodium lineages. This information establishes a baseline of prevalence for these ecoregions and provides insight to the disease ecology of resident and migrant birds of this area. We assert that baseline knowledge of this type is necessary for meaningful comparisons to areas of high anthropogenic change, and essential to aiding conservation efforts of birds in future.