Diverse host-parasite interactions mediate seasonal ecosystem linkages

Nematomorph parasites manipulate terrestrial arthropods, such as crickets and ground beetles, to enter streams where the parasites reproduce. These manipulated arthropods become a substantial prey subsidy for stream salmonids, causing cross-ecosystem energy flow. Diverse nematomorph-arthropod interactions are known to underlie the energy flow. However, whether and how they can mediate the magnitude and temporal attributes of energy flow remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated whether distinct species or phylogenetic groups of nematomorphs respectively manipulate different arthropod hosts, and how the diverse nematomorph-arthropod interactions, if any, mediate seasonal prey subsidy for stream salmonids. We found that distinct phylogenetic groups of Gordionus and Gordius nematomorphs infected ground beetle and orthopteran hosts, respectively. The Gordionus nematomorphs led their ground beetle hosts to enter streams in spring, subsidizing salmonid individuals during that season. By ..., Fish sampling was conducted in Koitoi stream, Uenai stream and Yuuburi stream, which are located in the mid-southern region of Hokkaido, Japan. Stomach contents were classified as nematomorphs, presumed hosts of nematomorphs (ground beetles and orthopterans) and non-host invertebrates (including both aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates) and vertebrates (i.e., fish). Each category was weighted in nearest 1 mg in wet mass., , # Data for the manuscript entitled \"Diverse host-parasite interactions mediate seasonal ecosystem linkages\" [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76htn](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76htn) ## Description of the data and file structure List of variables present in the data file: No: running number of data date: year/month/date round: rounds of electrofishing time: AM or PM season: spring [late May], summer [early July], autumn [late August-early September] and winter [mid-November] temperature: water temperature at the sampring (℃) stream: name of the stream species: abbreviation for the common name of a salmonid individual fl: folk length of a salmonid individual (mm) wet_mass: wet mass of a salmonid individual (g) dry_mass: dry mass of a salmonid individual (mg) ground_beetles: presence(1) or absence(0) of ground beetles in the stomach content of a salmonid individual orthopterans: presence(1) or absence(0) of orthopterans in the stomach content of a salmonid individu...