THE STRUCTURE OF THE COMMUNITY OF STRONGYLOID NEMATODES OF DOMESTIC EQUIDS

The community structure exhibited by strongyloid nematodes from the la rge intestines of horses was examined using data from autopsies of 150 horses. Thirty-one species of nematodes were encountered, but they we re not clearly divisible into core and satellite species. Multiple con generic, consubfamilial and confamilial species were a prominent featu re of the community and were more common than singleton infections. Mu ltivariate analyses provided evidence of a stable community of helmint hs dominated by positive interactions but with few negative interactio ns, suggesting the absence of competition within the community.