Parasites help find universal ecological rules

Hechinger, Ryan F.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1423785112

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Parasite ecology has only recently begun to address the extent to which macroecological patterns apply to parasites (Hechinger, ; Kamiya, O'dwyer, Nakagawa, & Poulin, ; Krasnov, Shenbrot, Khokhlova, & Allan Degen, ; Poulin, ). These efforts have been facilitated by increased parasite occurrence data availability (Carlson et al, ; Gibson, Bray, & Harris, ), and the pressing need to understand how host–parasite interactions will change across a shifting environmental landscape (Lafferty, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gauging support for macroecological patterns in helminth parasites

Dallas

Aguirre

Budischak

et al. 2018

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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Aim To explore spatial patterns of helminth parasite diversity, and to investigate three main macroecological patterns – (a) latitude–diversity relationships, (b) positive scaling between parasite and host diversity, and (c) species–area relationships – using a largely underutilized global database of helminth parasite occurrence records. Location Global. Methods We examined the London Natural History Museum’s collection of helminth parasite occurrence records, consisting of over 18,000 unique host species and 27,000 unique helminth parasite species distributed across over 350 distinct terrestrial and aquatic localities. Results We find support for latitudinal gradients in parasite diversity and a strong relationship between host and parasite diversity at the global scale. Helminth species diversity–area relationships were not detectable as a function of host body mass, but larger geographic areas supported higher parasite richness, potentially mediated through higher host richness. Main conclusions Our findings indicate that helminth parasites may obey some of the macroecological relationships found in free‐living species, suggesting that parasites may offer further support for the generality of these patterns, while offering interesting counterexamples for others. We conclude with a discussion of future directions and potential challenges in the newly emerging macroecology of infectious disease.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gauging support for macroecological patterns in helminth parasites

Dallas

Aguirre

Budischak

et al. 2018

Global Ecol Biogeogr

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“…In addition to influencing interactions between hosts and vectors, the effects of a pathogen on vector traits can potentially influence the ways in which they interact with other species. While relatively little work has explored the ecological implications of such effects in vector-borne disease systems 7,14 , there is growing appreciation for the ecological significance of microbial symbionts 12,13 as well as that of parasitic organisms, including pathogens 31 . Pathogens may affect the structure of ecological communities by suppressing populations of superior competitors (i.e., predators or parasitoids) 32 or triggering trophic cascades that reduce populations of structurally important species within food webs 33 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhanced heat tolerance of viral-infected aphids leads to niche expansion and reduced interspecific competition

et al. 2020

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Vector-borne pathogens are known to alter the phenotypes of their primary hosts and vectors, with implications for disease transmission as well as ecology. Here we show that a plant virus, barley yellow dwarf virus, increases the surface temperature of infected host plants (by an average of 2°C), while also significantly enhancing the thermal tolerance of its aphid vector Rhopalosiphum padi (by 8°C). This enhanced thermal tolerance, which was associated with differential upregulation of three heat-shock protein genes, allowed aphids to occupy higher and warmer regions of infected host plants when displaced from cooler regions by competition with a larger aphid species, R. maidis. Infection thereby led to an expansion of the fundamental niche of the vector. These findings show that virus effects on the thermal biology of hosts and vectors can influence their interactions with one another and with other, non-vector organisms.

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“…But even if such pathogens are identified, it remains challenging either to exclude false parasitism (incidental presence in human faeces of eggs resulting from the consumption of an infected animal 7,11 ) or to determine with certainty human outbreaks (helminth eggs might demonstrate their human origin by some circumstantial evidence only 3,11 ). Allometric rules that express parasites and noninfected animals per square meter 12 , in tandem with the several possible contamination pathways, will always lead to diseases with a high global burden 13 . Moreover, a parasitic occurrence can also be related to open water contamination, for instance from livestock grazing in upland areas causing outbreaks downstreams.…”

Section: Revisedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenic helminths in the past: Much ado about nothing

Mulder

2017

F1000Res

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Despite a long tradition on the extent to which Romanisation has improved human health, some recent studies suggest that Romanisation in general, and Roman sanitation in particular, may not have made people any healthier, given that in Roman times gastrointestinal parasites were apparently widespread, whilst in the present day such parasites rarely cause diseases. Unfortunately, this novel claim neglects the empirical evidence that worldwide infections in over 1.5 billion people are caused by ubiquitous foodborne nematodes. Therefore, many may wonder if fossil remains of soil-transmitted helminths have been reported in ancient sanitation infrastructures. Beneficial access to improved sanitation should always be prioritized, hence how can historical sanitation efforts have ever been harmful? In this short article, a strong plea for caution is given, asking for an augmented nematological record and showing that there is not any evidence against Roman sanitation, neither in the past nor in the present.Christian Mulder ( )

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Parasites help find universal ecological rules

Cited by 12 publications

References 17 publications

Gauging support for macroecological patterns in helminth parasites

Gauging support for macroecological patterns in helminth parasites

Enhanced heat tolerance of viral-infected aphids leads to niche expansion and reduced interspecific competition

Pathogenic helminths in the past: Much ado about nothing

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