Seasonal Dynamics, Host Network Structure, and Environmental Drivers of Gamasid Mite Communities on Small Mammals in a Dry-Hot Valley: A Year-Round Monitoring Study.
- 1Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Ectoparasite Systematics and Evolution of Yunnan Provincial Education Department, Institute of Pathogens and Vectors, Dali University, Dali 671000, China.
Abstract
Ectoparasitic gamasid mites on small mammals play crucial roles in transmitting zoonotic pathogens like hantaviruses associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). To elucidate their community, network structure, and seasonal drivers in xeric habitats, a consecutive 12-month localized survey was conducted in Waxi Village, Binchuan County, a dry-hot valley in Yunnan Province, southwest China, from November 2020 to October 2021. From 1329 captured small mammals (18 species, 89.62% rodents), 12,075 gamasid mites belonging to 33 species were identified. The community exhibited overwhelming dominance by the family Laelapidae (Cr = 99.35%) and genus Laelaps (Cr = 97.37%). Laelaps algericus, L. guizhouensis, and L. nuttalli constituted the dominant mite species (cumulative Cr = 88.96%) and formed a tightly correlated core species cluster. Overall infestation prevalence (PM), mean intensity (MI), and mean abundance (MA) were 46.05%, 19.73 mites/host, and 9.09 mites/host, respectively. The bipartite host-gamasid network revealed a significantly nested architecture (NODFobs = 31.16, Z = 14.03, p < 0.001) with high specialization (H₂' = 0.599), anchored by dominant hosts (Rattus andamanensis, Apodemus chevrieri, and Mus caroli). α-diversity analysis showed that Margalef richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Gini-Simpson index peaked in autumn (November), while troughs occurred in mid-spring (April) and mid-autumn (October). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS, stress = 0.0048) and PERMANOVA (R² = 0.074, p = 0.001) confirmed significant seasonal shifts in community composition. Standard redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested temperature as the primary climatic driver (F = 7.205, p = 0.001; total model explanation = 8.2%). However, partial RDA (pRDA) conditioning on host species identity demonstrated that climatic variables directly accounted for only 0.1% of net variance (F = 0.662, p = 0.521). Our findings indicate that gamasid mite community assembly in this dry-hot valley is characterized by strong species dominance and network nestedness and that seasonal fluctuations are consistent with a host-mediated pattern rather than being directly governed by climate.
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BibTeX
@article{yin2026seasonal,
title = {{Seasonal Dynamics, Host Network Structure, and Environmental Drivers of Gamasid Mite Communities on Small Mammals in a Dry-Hot Valley: A Year-Round Monitoring Study.}},
author = {Peng-Wu Yin and Yan Lv and Wen-Yu Song and Rong Fan and Cheng-Fu Zhao and Zhi-Wei Zhang and Ya-Fei Zhao and Wen-Ge Dong and Xian-Guo Guo},
journal = {Animals : an open access journal from MDPI},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.3390/ani16192999},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882968},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Seasonal Dynamics, Host Network Structure, and Environmental Drivers of Gamasid Mite Communities on Small Mammals in a Dry-Hot Valley: A Year-Round Monitoring Study.
AU - Peng-Wu Yin
AU - Yan Lv
AU - Wen-Yu Song
AU - Rong Fan
AU - Cheng-Fu Zhao
AU - Zhi-Wei Zhang
AU - Ya-Fei Zhao
AU - Wen-Ge Dong
AU - Xian-Guo Guo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
DO - 10.3390/ani16192999
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42882968
AB - Ectoparasitic gamasid mites on small mammals play crucial roles in transmitting zoonotic pathogens like hantaviruses associated with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS). To elucidate their community, network structure, and seasonal drivers in xeric habitats, a consecutive 12-month localized survey was conducted in Waxi Village, Binchuan County, a dry-hot valley in Yunnan Province, southwest China, from November 2020 to October 2021. From 1329 captured small mammals (18 species, 89.62% rodents), 12,075 gamasid mites belonging to 33 species were identified. The community exhibited overwhelming dominance by the family Laelapidae (Cr = 99.35%) and genus Laelaps (Cr = 97.37%). Laelaps algericus, L. guizhouensis, and L. nuttalli constituted the dominant mite species (cumulative Cr = 88.96%) and formed a tightly correlated core species cluster. Overall infestation prevalence (PM), mean intensity (MI), and mean abundance (MA) were 46.05%, 19.73 mites/host, and 9.09 mites/host, respectively. The bipartite host-gamasid network revealed a significantly nested architecture (NODFobs = 31.16, Z = 14.03, p < 0.001) with high specialization (H₂' = 0.599), anchored by dominant hosts (Rattus andamanensis, Apodemus chevrieri, and Mus caroli). α-diversity analysis showed that Margalef richness, Shannon-Wiener index, and Gini-Simpson index peaked in autumn (November), while troughs occurred in mid-spring (April) and mid-autumn (October). Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS, stress = 0.0048) and PERMANOVA (R² = 0.074, p = 0.001) confirmed significant seasonal shifts in community composition. Standard redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested temperature as the primary climatic driver (F = 7.205, p = 0.001; total model explanation = 8.2%). However, partial RDA (pRDA) conditioning on host species identity demonstrated that climatic variables directly accounted for only 0.1% of net variance (F = 0.662, p = 0.521). Our findings indicate that gamasid mite community assembly in this dry-hot valley is characterized by strong species dominance and network nestedness and that seasonal fluctuations are consistent with a host-mediated pattern rather than being directly governed by climate.
SN - 2076-2615
ER -