Inference of Parasite-Induced Host Mortality from Distributions of Parasit Loads

Archive ouverte

Thomas, Frédéric | de Meeûs, Thierry | Renaud, François | Rousset, François

Edité par CCSD ; Ecological Society of America -

International audience. Evidence for parasite-induced host mortality from field data remains difficult to obtain. We have developed analytical models to investigate the effects of parasite-induced host mortality on the distribution of macroparasites among individual hosts as a function of host age. Under the assumptions of these models, it is shown that a decrease of the mean parasite load or of its dispersion implies that there is parasite-induced host mortality and that infection rate is variable for different hosts in the population. Observed patterns will depend on the nature of such variation and of the relation between parasite load and host mortality.

Consulter en ligne

Suggestions

Du même auteur

Differential mortality of two closely related host species induced by one parasite

Archive ouverte | Thomas, Frédéric | CCSD

International audience. Understanding the importance of parasites in affecting the biodiversity of host species in ecosystems is a central aim of conservation biology. Recent advances in ecology have suggested that ...

Heterozygote deficiency in the mussel Mytilus edulis species complex revisited

Archive ouverte | Raymond, Michel | CCSD

International audience. In order to understand the phenomenon of heterozygote deficiency (F is) in marine molluscs, all the relevant literature concerning this phenomenon in the Mytilus edulis species complex was re...

Parasitism and Ecology of Wetlands: A Review

Archive ouverte | Thomas, Frédéric | CCSD

International audience. Recent advances in ecology have suggested that parasites, through the spectrum of their effects, could act as key species in ecosystems. Wetlands are productive ecosystems within which parasi...

Chargement des enrichissements...