大绒鼠体表寄生虫物种多样性及生态研究

The large oriental vole (Eothenomys miletus) is a peculiar and unique species of rodents in China and it only distributes in some parts of China, especially the Northwest of Yunnan Province and Southwest of Sichuan Province. The large oriental vole is one of the main animal hosts and infectious sources of plague and some other zoonoses. The ectoparasites (fleas, sucking lice, chigger mites and gamasid mites, etc.) on rodents are the important transmitting vectors of the zoonoses. Based on the strict stratified sampling technique and large samples, this project is planning to make a wide realm field investigation in the Northwest of Yunnan Province, Southwest of Sichuan Province and some other areas where E. miletus distributes. By using some related statistical analyses or mathematical models, the project will focus on the species diversity and ecology of ectoparasites on the vole, E. miletus. The project is an attempt to illustrate the following issues: the maximum species diversity of ectoparasites on such a single species (E. miletus) of rodents, that is, how many ectoparasite species the vole can load for the maximum; the minimum sampling number of the hosts for the field investigation of ectoparasite species diversity on a single species of rodents; the fluctuation patterns of ectoparasite species diversity on the same species of rodent hosts under different environmental gradients; the relationships between the host itself and its ectoparasites and the influence of the host itself (sex, age, body weight and pregnancy, etc.) on the infestation and species diversity of ectoparasites; the mutual relationships (association and competition, etc.) between different categories or different species of ectoparasites. Besides the knowledge innovation, the expected results from the project will hopefully provide a reliable guidance for the surveillance of zoonoses, vector born diseases and their transmitting vectors and they will also provide a model example for some other field investigations or researches on ectoparasites and vectors.

大绒鼠是中国特有鼠种，是鼠疫等人兽共患病的主要动物传染源和动物宿主之一。蚤、吸虱、恙螨和革螨等体表寄生虫是重要的传染病媒介生物。本项目拟在云南西北部和四川西南部等大绒鼠主要分布区，通过大范围、大样本和规范的分层抽样，借助相关统计分析方法和统计模型，全面深入研究大绒鼠体表寄生虫（蚤、吸虱、恙螨和革螨等）物种多样性及相关生态特征。通过研究，揭示大绒鼠这个单一鼠种对不同种类体表寄生虫（物种多样性）的最大承载潜能，确定单一鼠种体表寄生虫物种多样性研究中的最小宿主抽样量，探讨体表寄生虫物种多样性在不同环境条件下的变化及变化规律；揭示大绒鼠宿主动物自身因素（性别、年龄、体重、妊娠状态）对体表寄生虫感染状况和物种多样性的影响，探讨不同类群和不同种类体表寄生虫在宿主选择中的协同、排斥和竞争等生态关系。在实现知识创新同时，为传染病媒介生物的监测、控制和现场研究等提供可靠的科学依据和值得借鉴的范例。

大绒鼠是中国特有鼠种，主要分布在我国的横断山区及其附近区域，是鼠疫、鼠型斑疹伤寒和恙虫病等人兽共患病的动物传染源，蚤和恙螨等体表寄生虫是这些人兽共患病的重要传播媒介。该项目在大绒鼠主要分布区（云南、四川西南部和贵州部分地区）选择调查点，通过大范围、大样本和规范的分层抽样，借助相关统计分析方法和统计模型，深入研究了大绒鼠体表寄生虫的物种多样性及生态特征。大绒鼠体表寄生虫感染十分普遍，感染率86.6%，感染度33.69虫/鼠，以恙螨的种类和数量最多。从39个县（市）所捕获的2463只大绒鼠体表累计采集到71895份体表寄生虫，分类鉴定为17科52属320种，包括30种蚤、9种吸虱、106种革螨、175种恙螨。大绒鼠这个单一鼠种对体表寄生虫的承载潜能很大，物种多样性很高。种多度分布和种样方关系研究提示，不同地域和生境中同一鼠种（大绒鼠）体表寄生虫的种类构成和物种多样性变化较大，当宿主样本数量有限时，将会有较多的寄生虫种类（特别是稀有种）被遗漏而采集不到，大范围、大宿主样本的现场调查在体表寄生虫研究中至关重要。体表寄生虫倾向选择成年和雄性大绒鼠作为其宿主。体表寄生虫有群居习性，呈聚集分布。部分体表寄生虫（如恙螨）之间可能存在种间协同关系，有选择相同宿主的倾向。在大绒鼠体表寄生虫中，有18种传播人兽共患病的重要媒介或潜在媒介，这为人兽共患病在鼠间的传播流行和疫源地的持续存在创造了条件。此外，在大绒鼠体表还发现并命名了2种恙螨新种。该项目揭示了大绒鼠体表寄生虫物种多样性特点及相关生态规律，在实现知识创新同时，为人兽共患病及其媒介的监测、预测预警、防控和现场研究等提供了可靠的科学依据和值得借鉴的范例。该项目属于基础理论研究，成果的主要形式是研究论文，迄今为止已在国内外公开刊物发表了16篇论文，其中以英文形式发表的SCI收录论文有10篇。