caa a22 4500 445378204 CHVBK 20180317143009.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110901xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s10393-011-0726-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s10393-011-0726-6 Effect of Forest Fragmentation on Tick Infestations of Birds and Tick Infection Rates by Rickettsia in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil [Elektronische Daten] [Maria Ogrzewalska, Alexandre Uezu, Clinton Jenkins, Marcelo Labruna] Habitat loss and modifications affect biodiversity, potentially contributing to outbreaks of infectious diseases. We evaluated if the patch sizeinfragmented areas of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil influences the diversity of forest birds and consequently the prevalence of ticks on birds and the rickettsial infection of these ticks. During 2 years, we collected ticks from birds in 12 sites: four small forest patches (80-140ha), four large ones (480-1,850ha), and four forest control areas within the much larger Morro do Diabo State Park (~36,000ha). A total of 1,725 birds were captured (81 species, 24 families), from which 223 birds were infested by 2,339 ticks of the genus Amblyomma, mostly by the species A. nodosum. Bird diversity and richness were higher in larger than smaller forest fragments. The prevalence of ticks on birds was inversely correlated with bird diversity and richness. Among 174 A. nodosum tested for rickettsial infection by polymerase chain reaction, 51 were found to be infected by Rickettsia bellii or Rickettsia parkeri. However, tick infection rates by Rickettsia spp. were not statistically different between forest patch sizes. The higher prevalence of ticks on birds in degraded patches might be caused by a dominance of a few generalist bird species in small patches, allowing an easier transmission of parasites among individuals. It could also be related to more favorable microclimatic conditions for the free-living stages of A. nodosum in smaller forest fragments.The higher burden of ticks on birds in smaller forest fragments is an important secondary effect of habitat fragmentation, possibly increasing the likelihood of Rickettsia contagion. International Association for Ecology and Health, 2011 ticks nationallicence birds nationallicence rickettsia nationallicence Atlantic Forest nationallicence fragmentation nationallicence biodiversity nationallicence Ogrzewalska Maria Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil aut Uezu Alexandre Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ), Nazaré, Paulista, SP, Brazil aut Jenkins Clinton Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA aut Labruna Marcelo Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil aut EcoHealth Springer-Verlag 8/3(2011-09-01), 320-331 1612-9202 8:3<320 2011 8 10393 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-011-0726-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-011-0726-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ogrzewalska Maria Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Uezu Alexandre Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas (IPÊ), Nazaré, Paulista, SP, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Jenkins Clinton Department of Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Labruna Marcelo Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- EcoHealth Springer-Verlag 8/3(2011-09-01), 320-331 1612-9202 8:3<320 2011 8 10393 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer