The effect of urban habitat use on parasitism in mammals: a meta-analysis

Rates of urbanization are increasing globally, with
potential consequences for the dynamics of parasites and their
wildlife hosts. A small subset of mammal species have the dietary and
behavioural flexibility to survive in urban settings. The changes that
characterize urban ecology – including landscape transformation,
modified diets, and shifts in community composition – can either
increase or decrease susceptibility and exposure to parasites. We used
a meta-analytic approach to systematically assess differences in
endoparasitism between mammals in urban and non-urban habitats.
Parasite prevalence estimates in matched urban and non-urban mammal
populations from 33 species were compiled from 46 published studies,
and an overall effect of urban habitation on parasitism was derived
after controlling for study and parasite genus. Parasite life cycle
type and host order were investigated as moderators of the effect
sizes. We found that parasites with complex life cycles were less
prevalent ...