Gastrointestinal parasite diversity and the relation to climate in west Greenland caribou

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relation between gastrointestinal parasite diversity and climate in west Greenland. Two different caribou herds from two different areas, the Kangerlussuaq-Sisimut (KS) area and the Akia-Maniitsoq (AM) area, were sampled and their gastrointestinal nematodes were identified. Weather data on temperature, precipitation and wind speed was obtained from the online database of the Danish Meteorological Institute and the climate preferences of these nematodes, obtained from literature, were compared with the climate data of the areas. These climate data show a continental climate in the KS area and a maritime climate in the AM area. Our results show that parasites in western Greenland are distributed following their preferred climatological factors. It, unfortunately, was not possible to say that parasite distribution in this region is primarily influenced by climate, because there are many other factors and weather conditions to take in consideration.