Aim The rate at which similarity in species composition decays with increasing distance was investigated among communities of parasitic helminths in different populations of the same host species. Rates of distance decay in similarity of parasite communities were compared between populations of fish and mammal hosts, which differ with respect to their vagility and potential to disperse parasite...

The diversity of parasite species exploiting a host population varies substantially among different host species. This review summarizes the main predictions generated by the two main theoretical frameworks used to study parasite diversity. The first is island biogeography theory, which predicts that host features, such as body size, that are associated with the probability of colonization by n...

1. In the AÊ land islands of SW Finland, the parasitoid Cotesia melitaearum (Wilkonson) is a specialist on the Glanville fritillary butter ̄y, Melitaea cinxia (L.), which uses two host plants, Plantago lanceolata (L.) and Veronica spicata (L.). 2. Extensive survey data on the butter ̄y and parasitoid populations collected in 1994±97 were used to examine possible associations of parasitoid coloniz...

We review the use of parasites as biological tags of marine fishes and cephalopods in host population structure studies. The majority of the work published has focused on marine fish and either single parasite species or more recently, whole parasite assemblages, as biological tags. There is representation of host organisms and parasites from a diverse range of taxonomic groups, although focus ...

We surveyed for the presence and identity of Wolbachia in 44 species of chalcid wasps associated with 18 species of Panamanian figs. We used existing detailed knowledge of the population structures of the host wasps, as well as the ecological and evolutionary relationships among them, to explore the relevance of each of these factors to Wolbachia prevalence and mode of transmission. Fifty-nine ...

The population dynamics of a parasite depend on species traits, host dynamics and the environment. Those dynamics are reflected in the genetic structure of the population. Habitat fragmentation has a greater impact on parasites than on their hosts because resource distribution is increasingly fragmented for species at higher trophic levels. This could lead to either more or less genetic structu...

The evolution of parasite virulence and host defences is affected by population structure. This effect has been confirmed in studies focusing on large spatial scales, whereas the importance of local structure is not well understood. Slavemaking ants are social parasites that exploit workers of another species to rear their offspring. Enslaved workers of the host species Temnothorax longispinosu...

Several toxigenic trichothecene-producing and nonproducing Fusarium species are involved in Fusarium head blight, which reduces both crop yield and quality in cereals. Climate change has altered crop production in many countries, and this in turn influences the pathogen populations. E.g. in northern areas a risk will be new toxigenic Fusarium species spreading to the north due to higher tempera...