Haemosporidian infection risk across an urban gradient in a songbird

Urbanization is a significant source of inter- and intra-city environmental variation and is associated with declining population sizes that are increasingly homogeneous. However, whether this shift extends to urban disease ecology and related parasite communities requires further examination. By comparing the prevalence and diversity of two related parasite genera (host-generalist Plasmodium and host-specialist Haemoproteus) in dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) populations across an urbanization gradient in California, we can determine how broad urban-associated land use changes and localized habitat composition correlate with pathogen communities. Additionally, by examining vector abundance responses, we can begin to assess broader impacts on urban disease transmission and ecology. We report that Haemoproteus prevalence decreased in urban habitats, with a larger presence of host-generalist lineages, suggesting urbanization increases homogenization of host-specialist pathogens. Uns..., Field Sampling
Bird capture was conducted during three consecutive breeding seasons (January–August) from 2021–2023. The study sites spanned four major metropolitan areas (Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco, CA) and included two non-urban sites (Angeles Nation Forest, ANF; Santa Monica Mountains, SMM) and six urban sites (University of California, Los Angeles campus, UCLA; University of California, San Diego campus, UCSD; University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB; Occidental College campus, Occ; San Francisco State University campus, SFSU; and parks throughout Los Angeles, LA).
At each site, wild juncos were captured by targeted mist netting. Trapping efforts included audio lures recorded from juncos in Los Angeles. All captured individuals, including males, females, and juveniles, were used in this analysis. Upon capture, individuals were banded with metal federal aluminum bands and three plastic color bands to create unique band combinations for behavioral st..., , # Data from: Haemosporidian infection risk across an urban gradient in a songbird

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxdj0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.rr4xgxdj0)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data was collected from dark-eyed juncos from San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Sites are listed based on broad categorization (urban vs non-urban) but also include GPS coordinates at each capture site.

Per-individual data is listed, including morphometric data, infection status, and habitat conditions (including vegetation data within 50 m of a capture site). Local vegetation is based on a modified survey by combining the California Native Plant Society and California Department of Fish and Wildlife surveys. Both precipitation and urbanization values (calculated as NDBI-NDVI) are based on remote sensing data.

Lineage data is based onthe  closest similarity to published sequence data available on MalAvi and verified in NCBI GenBank. The MalAvi dataset...,