Lineage-specific trait variation generates widespread, contemporaneous
coexistence and competitive exclusion dynamics in an invasive, multihost
wildlife parasite
Abstract
Invasive and highly virulent parasites are being transported to new
locations and into novel hosts by anthropogenic activities. Repeated
introductions lead to interactions amongst genetic lineages, resulting
in competitive exclusion, coexistence, or cycling through a combination
of the two. Here, we describe interactions between the same two lineages
that demonstrate both ends of the exclusion/coexistence continuum. We
report intra-lineage trait variation of the multihost amphibian parasite
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis driving contrasting outcomes of
inter-lineage interactions on two continents. Trait variation in the
global pandemic lineage, BdGPL, is responsible: In Europe, BdGPL
competitively constrained the distribution of the other, BdCAPE, while
in Africa, BdGPL and BdCAPE can mutually invade host populations when
the other is already resident, leading to coinfections and
recombination. That these contrasting outcomes are prolonged and
contemporaneous illustrates how epidemiological models of invasive
wildlife parasites need to account for trait variation both within and
across lineages.