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Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems

MacKay, Rebecca Noel
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3410-7589
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648115923298593

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, Biological Sciences.
Though parasites are a ubiquitous in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the important role parasites play in community ecology is often overlooked. Thus, the goal of my dissertation was to determine how parasites impact ecological communities by altering the personality, foraging behavior, and community interactions of a host. Crayfish Faxonius rustucis are the second intermediate host of the digenetic trematode Microphallus spp. Microphallid load impacted crayfish personality along a bold shy spectrum, causing crayfish to become bolder in the presence of a threatening odor and less exploratory in novel environments, whether or not a food source was present. Additionally, crayfish infected with Microphallus spp. consumed significantly less macrophyte tissue that as parasite load increase. This decrease in consumption was species-specific, with parasite load causing the sharpest decrease in the consumption of Chara sp., followed by Elodea canadensis, Ceratophyllum demersum, and Potamotgeton richardsonii. Additionally, females were more effected by parasite load than males, resulting in a sharper decrease in foraging for the female crayfish. Crayfish were placed in larger community mesocosms with both macrophytes (Chara sp., Myriophallum exalbescens, C. demersum, and P. richardsonii) and animal prey (Campeloma decisum, Dreissena polymorpha, and Dicosmoecus sp.) to determine how microphallid load affected consumption of both plant and animal prey as well as community interactions between the competing animal prey. Macrophyte consumption significantly decreased with increasing parasite load, but the number of animal prey consumed was not affected by parasite load. However, animal weight change was slightly impacted by parasite load, such that D. polymorpha weight remained constant, Dicosmoecus sp. gained about 5% of their body weight, and C. decisum lost approximately 5% of their body weight, which could indicate shifts in the competition between these species. Overall, Microphallus sp. alter crayfish behavior. Because crayfish are keystone species in aquatic habitats, this shifting behavior can have community-level impacts.
Paul Moore, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Steven Cady, Ph.D. (Other)
Curtis Blankespoor, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Robert Huber, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Daniel Pavuk, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
102 p.
Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology; Parasitology
parasites; community ecology; animal behavior

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • MacKay, R. N. (2022). Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems [Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648115923298593

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • MacKay, Rebecca. Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems. 2022. Bowling Green State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648115923298593.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • MacKay, Rebecca. "Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems." Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1648115923298593

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1648115923298593
98
© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Parasites alter organismal behavior and interactions in aquatic ecosystems by Rebecca Noel MacKay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.