DOI: 10.5061/dryad.18j6s77
title: Data from: Global patterns in helminth host specificity: phylogenetic and functional diversity of regional host species pools matter

description: Host specificity has a major influence on a parasite’s ability to shift
 between human and animal host species. Yet there is a dearth of
 quantitative approaches to explore variation in host specificity across
 biogeographical scales, particularly in response to the varying community
 compositions of potential hosts. We built a global dataset of intermediate
 host associations for nine of the world’s most widespread helminth
 parasites (all of which infect humans). Using hierarchical models, we
 asked if realised parasite host specificity varied in response to regional
 variation in the phylogenetic and functional diversities of potential host
 species. Parasites were recorded in 4-10 zoogeographical regions, with
 some showing considerable geographical variation in observed versus
 expected host specificity. Parasites generally exhibited the lowest
 phylogenetic host specificity in regions with the greatest variation in
 prospective host phylogenetic diversity, namely the Neotropical,
 Saharo-Arabian and Australian regions. Globally, we uncovered notable
 variation in parasite host shifting potential. Observed host assemblages
 for Hydatigera taeniaeformis and Hymenolepis diminuta were less
 phylogenetically diverse than expected, suggesting limited potential to
 spillover into unrelated hosts. Host assemblages for Echinococcus
 granulosus, Mesocestoides lineatus and Trichinella spiralis were less
 functionally diverse than expected, suggesting limited potential to shift
 across host ecological niches. By contrast, Hydatigera taeniaeformis
 infected a higher functional diversity of hosts than expected, indicating
 strong potential to shift across hosts with different ecological niches.
 We show that the realised phylogenetic and functional diversities of
 infected hosts are determined by biogeographical gradients in prospective
 host species pools. These findings emphasise the need to account for
 underlying species diversity when assessing parasite host specificity. Our
 framework to identify variation in realised host specificity is broadly
 applicable to other host-parasite systems and will provide key insights
 into parasite invasion potential at regional and global scales.
description: Global parasitic
 helminths – mammalian hosts association recordsThis data file contains
 association records of focal parasitic worm species (helminths) in
 different mammalian host species compiled from the publicly available
 Host-Parasite Database
 (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/scientific-resources/taxonomy-systematics/host-parasites/) of the Natural History Museum (NHM), London (Gibson et al., 2005). Data extraction and revision is described in Wells et al. (2018). Location names were standardised to country names of the current world geopolitical map and assigned to one of 11 zoogeographical regions according to Holt et al. (2013). Unique host-parasite-country records are given for nine focal parasite species: Calodium hepaticum (Nematoda), Echinococcus granulosus (Cestoda), Echinococcus multilocularis (Cestoda), Hydatigera taeniaeformis (Cestoda), Hymenolepis diminuta (Cestoda), Mesocestoides lineatus (Cestoda), Taenia hydatigena (Cestoda), Trichinella spiralis (Nematoda) and Versteria mustelae (Cestoda). For records of non-focal parasitic helminth species in different host species and locations, binomial species names have been replaced with “0” to represent the full range mammal species with records of any parasitic helminth species (i.e. potential host species pools). Column titles refer to the following content for serial records of host-parasite associations: Host.Species – Binomial name of mammalian host species for which an association has been recorded. Host.Order – Taxonomic order of host species. Parasite.Species - Binomial name of parasitic helminth species (nine focal species) for which an association has been recorded. Records of non-focal parasitic helminth species are indicated with “0”, including all records of mammalian host species in the original database in which the focal parasites were not recorded. Parasite.Taxa – Taxonomic classification of parasitic helminth species. Location.Name – Name of the location of association record according to original database. Country – Country name matching the location name of association record according to contemporary world geopolitical map. Zoogeogr.Region – Zoogeographical region matching the location name of association record according to Holt et al. (2013). References: Gibson, D. I. et al.(Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/scientific-resources/taxonomy-systematics/host-parasites/index.html; Holt, B. G. et al. 2013. An update of Wallace’s zoogeographic regions of the world. — Science 339: 74-78. doi:10.1126/science.1228282; Wells, K. et al. (2018). Global spread of helminth parasites at the human – domestic animal – wildlife interface. — Global Change Biology 24: 3254-3265. doi:10.1111/gcb.14064;data_global.helminths_mammal.csv