2018 ESA Annual Meeting (August 5 -- 10)

PS 20-109 - Spatial variation in the intestinal parasite community of raccoons (Procyon lotor) across three distinct anthropogenic zones in Michigan

Tuesday, August 7, 2018
ESA Exhibit Hall, New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Sofia S. Kruszka1, Beatriz Aguilar1 and Nyeema C. Harris2, (1)Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, (2)Applied Wildlife Ecology (AWE) Lab, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, MI
Background/Question/Methods

Procyon lotor, or raccoons, inhabit the entire spectrum of anthropogenically influenced landscapes, from ecosystems barely touched by human development to urban environments. Parasite infection has an adverse effect on animal health, as parasites make the host vulnerable to infection of diseases or microparasites. Parasite diversity may increase the variety of diseases to which the host is vulnerable. The purpose of this experiment is to compare the intestinal parasite diversity between raccoons from three different ecological sites in Michigan, each with a different level of human activity. We hypothesized that the raccoons in the site of least anthropogenic influence would carry the most diverse parasite communities due to greater exposure to wild animals and their feces, which would increase the variety of parasite infections. Fecal samples were collected from Huron Mountain Club (HMC) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) in Pellston, and Shiawassee National Wildlife Reserve (SNWR) in Saginaw County. All samples were collected opportunistically or by walking transects between April 22, 2016 and December 10, 2016. Fecal flotation and sedimentation techniques were carried out on each sample, which were then checked for parasite eggs to build a species list for each site.

Results/Conclusions

Preliminary results show that an observable difference exists between the parasite varieties of each site – SNWR samples contained more Capillaria spp. than the HMC samples, and Baylisascaris procyonis was only observed in the UMBS samples, with one sample containing 24.25 eggs per gram. The fecal samples from HMC presented a smaller species list than those collected in SNWR and UMBS. All three sites include samples that contain Isospora sp. Our initial results indicate that the parasite diversity in raccoons varies significantly by site and environmental factors. This can have implications for human and pet health, as raccoons with higher parasite diversity in areas where there is more human influence increase the risk of infection of humans or domestic pets from eggs shed from the host. Our results can also have implications on raccoon health, as intestinal parasite diversity in raccoon populations across the state of Michigan reflects the health of the species in different ecological and anthropogenic zones, thus providing important information about the impact of human activity on P. lotor.