Åhlen, Per-Arne and Sjöberg, Göran and Steen, Margareta
(2021).
Parasitic fauna of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) in Sweden (1997-1998).
Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. 63
, 23
[Research article]
![]() |
PDF
1MB |
Abstract
Background The parasitic fauna of beavers (Castor fiber and C. canadensis) has been well studied in many parts of their respective areas of distribution. In Scandinavia there have, however, been limited investigations conducted on the parasites of beavers in recent times. The present study is the first quantitative survey of parasites on beavers living in Sweden and elsewhere in Scandinavia. We investigated the parasitic fauna of the Eurasian beaver (C. fiber) in a North-South gradient in Sweden. The aim of the study was to investigate parasite distribution and prevalence in particular, related to average yearly air temperature and different age groups of beavers. A total of 30 beavers were sampled at eight localities, spanning a 720 km North-South gradient during the springs of 1997 and 1998. Results Five parasite taxa were identified. Four of these were present in all of the examined beavers, Stichorchis subtriquetrus (trematode), Travassosius rufus (nematode), Platypsyllus castoris (coleopteran), and Schizocarpus spp. (arachnid). A higher number of new infections of S. subtriquetrus, and more adults of T. rufus, were seen in beavers in southern Sweden where temperatures are higher. One-year old beavers had a higher infestation of S. subtriquetrus, but not of T. rufus, than older individuals. Conclusions The parasite fauna of Swedish beavers mirrored the impoverished parasite fauna of the original Norwegian population, and the high prevalence of parasites could be due to low major histocompatibility complex (MHC) polymorphism. Young beavers had a higher load of trematodes, probably depending on behavioural and ecological factors. Warmer temperatures in southern localities likely contributed to increased endoparasite loads.
Authors/Creators: | Åhlen, Per-Arne and Sjöberg, Göran and Steen, Margareta | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Title: | Parasitic fauna of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) in Sweden (1997-1998) | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2021 | ||||||
Volume: | 63 | ||||||
Article number: | 23 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 11 | ||||||
Publisher: | BMC | ||||||
ISSN: | 0044-605X | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 4 Agricultural Sciences > 403 Veterinary Science > Pathobiology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-112219 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-p-112219 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
| ||||||
ID Code: | 24503 | ||||||
Faculty: | S - Faculty of Forest Sciences VH - Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science | ||||||
Department: | (S) > Dept. of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies (VH) > Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 10 Jun 2021 16:23 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 10 Jun 2021 16:31 |
Repository Staff Only: item control page