Parasite β-diversity along a stream: effect of distance and environment

Parasites can provide suitable models for studying β-diversity due to their strict dependence on both the environment and the biology and distribution of their hosts, aiding in the interpretation of any patterns that hosts can display. With the aim of quantifying the relative importance of host features, environmental factors and spatial distances as drivers of fish parasite β-diversity along a unidirectional gradient, the structure of fish parasite assemblages was analysed using generalised dissimilarity models (GDMs). A total of 150 poeciliid fish were examined for larval trematodes, recording host features and physical parameters of each sampling site along the stream. Differences among digenean communities increased when Strahler order changed along the stream, associated with increasing species richness and abundance downstream. Environmental gradient, spatial distance and host features were identified as significant determining factors of species turnover, with conductivity being the most important, followed by spatial distance. In the present study, environmental variables were spatially structured along the stream, their effects as structurers of parasite β-diversity being higher than the pure environmental or the pure distance effect. Such predominance prevents us from establishing at what point on the continuum from niche to neutrality these communities are located. Results from the present research contribute to improving our knowledge of the factors that shape parasite community changes, and underline the importance of considering the pure and shared effects of spatial, environmental and host feature factors in order to determine the real contribution of each one as a determinant of parasite β- diversity.