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Thesis
A comparison of infestation and population genomic variation among prairie grouse lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from agricultural and uncultivated habitats
Master of Science (M.S.), Drexel University
Jun 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010710
Abstract
The impacts of agriculture on parasitic species have received strikingly little attention in the literature in comparison to the numerous studies investigating the effects of land use on their free-living hosts. I investigated the effects of agriculture on lice, which parasitize prairie grouse, to understand the impacts of agriculture on parasitic infestations and genomic variation of louse populations. First, I compared the prevalence, intensity, and probability of infestation for three different lineages of grouse lice to test the hypothesis that all three indices would be higher on avian hosts from cropland habitat. Second, I analyzed genomic variation in three louse genera to compare their population structure and explore admixture. Lastly, I tested the significance of geographic distance between hosts, host species identity, and host habitat type (cropland vs. prairie) as predictors of population genomic variation among lice. I found evidence that hosts from cropland habitat experience infestations with lower intensity, and that hosts from prairie habitat have a higher probability of infestation than hosts from cropland habitat. I also document the first records of Goniocotes gallinae, an agricultural parasite of domestic chickens, on these hosts. The results suggest that agriculture influenced host-parasite relationships between the lice and grouse in this study, but also imply that other factors, such as parasite life history and environmental conditions, may better explain population genomic variation than the predictor variables I tested.
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Details
- Title
- A comparison of infestation and population genomic variation among prairie grouse lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from agricultural and uncultivated habitats
- Creators
- Abigail C. Del Grosso
- Contributors
- Jason D. Weckstein (Advisor)Marina Potapova (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Master of Science (M.S.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- vi, 48 pages
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Biodiversity, Earth, and Environmental Science (BEES); College of Arts and Sciences; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021890313804721