Parasite and viral species richness of Southeast Asian bats: Fragmentation of area distribution matters

Gay, Noellie; Olival, Kevin J.; Bumrungsri, Sara; Siriaroonrat, Boripat; Bourgarel, Mathieu; Morand, Serge

We tested hypotheses related to (1) influences of the size and shape of the geographic distribution (index of the fragmentation of bat distribution, defined as the ratio of the surface of the distribution area to the edge length); (2) the size of bat colonies and the number of breeding seasons. We hypothesized that a large area should favor the accumulation of parasites and that an increase of fragmentation of bat distribution, potentially linked with increased habitat diversity, lead to an increase of the overall parasite diversity. We also hypothesized that bats species living in large colonies with a high number of breeding seasons will support a larger pool of parasite species due to large susceptible populations.