Giardia and Other Intestinal Parasites of Small Mammals in Grand Teton National Park

Abstract

The long-range objectives of this research on the biological cost of parasitism to small mammals are: 1) to document the incidence and prevalence of Giardia and other parasites in Microtus and other sympatric small mammals of Grand Teton National Park: 2) to compare parasite loads for these animals during wet and dry seasons: 3) to determine the incidence of intestinal parasites in Microtus during a growth cycle that ranges from years of lowest to years of highest population densities of the hosts, 4) to investigate the relationship of parasite infection to reproductive success in Microtus, and 5) to investigate small mammals as potential reservoirs of human parasites such as Giardia.