Intestinal Helminths in Wild Rodents from Native Forest and Exotic Pine Plantations (Pinus radiata) in Central Chile

Abstract

Native forests have been replaced by forestry plantations worldwide, impacting biodiversity. However, the effect of this anthropogenic land-use change on parasitism is poorly understood. One of the most important land-use change in Chile is the replacement of native forests by Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) plantations. In this study, we analyzed the parasitism (presence and prevalence) of intestinal helminths from fecal samples of wild rodents in three habitat types: native forests and adult and young pine plantations in central Chile. Small mammals were sampled seasonally for two years, and a total of 1091 fecal samples from seven small mammal species were analyzed using coprological analysis. We found several helminth families and genera, some of them potentially zoonotic. In addition, new rodent-parasite associations were reported for the first time. The overall helminth prevalence was 16.95%, and an effect of habitat type on prevalence was not observed. Other factors were more relevant for prevalence such rodent species for Hymenolepis sp. and season for Physaloptera sp. Our findings indicate that pine plantations do not increase helminth prevalence in rodents compared to native forests.

Keywords: Chile; Rodentia; helminths; land conversion; small mammals; wildlife; zoonosis.

Figure 1

Helminth eggs recorded from fecal samples of rodents. All images were obtained at 40×. (A) Capillaria sp.; (B) Hymenolepis sp.; (C) Strongylida; (D) Syphacia sp.; (E) Moniliformis sp.; (F) Physaloptera sp.; (G) unidentified egg; (H) unidentified larva.