Data from: Within guild co-infections influence parasite community membership: a longitudinal study in African Buffalo

1. Experimental studies in laboratory settings have demonstrated a critical role of parasite interactions in shaping parasite communities. The sum of these interactions can produce diverse effects on individual hosts as well as influence disease emergence and persistence at the population level. 2. A predictive framework for the effects of parasite interactions in the wild remains elusive, largely because of limited longitudinal or experimental data on parasite communities of free-ranging hosts. 3. This four year study followed a community of haemoparasites in free-ranging African buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We detected infection by 11 haemoparasite species using PCR-based diagnostic techniques, and analyzed drivers of infection patterns using generalized linear mixed models to understand the role of host characteristics and season on infection likelihood. We tested for (1) effects of co-infection by other haemoparasites (within guild) and (2) effects of parasites infecting different tissue types (across guild). 4. We found that within guild co-infections were the strongest predictors of haemoparasite infections in the buffalo; but that seasonal and host characteristics also had important effects. In contrast, the evidence for across-guild effects of parasites utilizing different tissue on haemoparasite infection was weak. 5. These results provide a nuanced view of the role of co-infections in determining haemoparasite infection patterns in free living mammalian hosts. Our findings suggest a role for interactions among parasites infecting a single tissue type in determining infection patterns.1. 实验室环境下的实验研究已证实，寄生虫互作在塑造寄生虫群落结构中发挥关键作用。这类互作的总和可对宿主个体产生多样影响，同时还能在种群层面影响疾病的暴发与持续流行。 2. 目前学界仍缺乏适用于野外环境的寄生虫互作效应预测框架，这主要是因为针对自由活动宿主的寄生虫群落，相关纵向研究或实验数据均较为匮乏。 3. 本研究为期四年，追踪了自由活动的非洲水牛（Syncerus caffer）体内的血寄生虫（haemoparasites）群落。研究团队借助基于聚合酶链式反应（PCR）的诊断技术，检测到11种血寄生虫的感染情况；并通过广义线性混合模型（generalized linear mixed models）分析感染模式的驱动因子，以明晰宿主特征与季节对感染概率的影响。我们开展了两项检验：一是同功能群内其他血寄生虫的共感染效应，二是侵染不同组织类型的跨功能群寄生虫效应。 4. 研究发现，同功能群内的共感染是预测水牛血寄生虫感染情况的最强因子，但季节与宿主特征也对感染模式存在重要影响。与之形成对比的是，关于利用不同组织的跨功能群寄生虫对血寄生虫感染的影响证据较为薄弱。 5. 本研究结果为厘清共感染在决定自由活动哺乳动物宿主血寄生虫感染模式中的作用提供了精细化视角。研究发现，侵染同一组织类型的寄生虫之间的互作，在塑造感染模式中扮演了重要角色。