Mesoscale spatiotemporal variability in a complex host-parasite system influenced by intermediate host body size

Mesoscale spatiotemporal variability in a complex host-parasite system influenced by intermediate host body size

BACKGROUND Parasites are essential components of natural communities, but the factors that generate skewed distributions of parasite occurrences and abundances across host populations are not well understood. METHODS Here, we analyse at a seascape scale the spatiotemporal relationships of parasite exposure and host body-size with the proportion of infected hosts (i.e., prevalence) and aggrega...

Host sympatry and body size influence parasite straggling rate in a highly connected multihost, multiparasite system

Parasite lineages commonly diverge when host lineages diverge. However, when large clades of hosts and parasites are analyzed, some cases suggest host switching as another major diversification mechanism. The first step in host switching is the appearance of a parasite on an atypical host, or "straggling." We analyze the conditions associated with straggling events. We use five species of colon...

Evolution in a Host-parasite System

Some organisms employ multiple defence strategies against their enemies , while others fail to employ a defence that seems obvious. We shall investigate three questions for host-parasite systems. (1) Under what circumstances does it pay for a host to employ a given defence strategy against one of its parasites? (2) If alternative strategies are available, how is the appropriate strategy chosen?...

Uncertain links in host–parasite networks: lessons for parasite transmission in a multi-host system

For many parasites, the full set of hosts that are susceptible to infection is not known, and this could lead to a bias in estimates of transmission. We used counts of individual adult parasites from historical parasitology studies in southern Africa to map a bipartite network of the nematode parasites of herbivore hosts that occur in Botswana. Bipartite networks are used in community ecology t...

Actinomyces bovis a possible cause for calcification of the parasite in the host tissue