Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-27T16:58:48.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Processes influencing the distribution of parasite numbers within host populations with special emphasis on parasite-induced host mortalities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

R. M. Anderson  and
D. M. Gordon
R. M. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Pure and Applied Biology, Imperial College, London University, London SW7 2BB
D. M. Gordon
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, King's College, London University, London WC2R 2LS
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The paper examines the factors which generate various patterns of dispersion in the distribution of parasites within their host populations. Particular emphasis is placed on the role played by chance elements in the growth and decay of parasite populations and on the influence of different types of demographic processes. It is argued that observed distributions are dynamic, rather than static, entities generated by opposing forces, some acting to create over-dispersion and others acting to generate under-dispersion. Monte Carlo simulation experiments, based on probability models of the growth and decay of host and parasite populations, are used to study the dynamics of parasite dispersion. Attention is specifically focused on the role played by parasite-induced host mortality. It is shown that, for certain types of host–parasite associations, convex curves of mean parasite abundance in relation to age (age-intensity curves), concomitant with a decline in the degree of dispersion in the older age classes of hosts, may be evidence of the induction of host mortality by parasite infection. Empirical evidence is examined in light of this prediction. In general, however, simulation studies highlight the technical difficulties inherent in establishing clear evidence of parasite-induced host mortality from ecological studies of hosts and parasites in their natural habitats.

Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 85 , Issue 2 , October 1982 , pp. 373 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, R. M. (1974). Population dynamics of the cestode Caryophyllaeus laliceps (Pallas, 1781) in the bream (Abramis brama L.). Journal of Animal Ecology 43, 305–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M. (1978). The regulation of host population growth by parasitic species. Parasitology 76, 119–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. M. (1979). The influence of parasitic infection on the dynamics of host population growth. In Population Dynamics (ed. Anderson, R. M., Turner, B. D. and Taylor, L. R.), pp. 245–281. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar
Anderson, R. M. (1981). Epidemiology of infectious disease agents. In Modern Parasitology (ed. Cox, F. E. G.). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publishers.Google Scholar
Anderson, R. M., Gordon, D. M., Crawley, M. J. & Hassell, M. P. (1982). Variability in the abundance of animal and plant species. Nature, London 296, 245–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. (1978). Regulation and stability of host–parasite population interactions: I. Regulatory processes. Journal of Animal Ecology 47, 219–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, R. M. & May, R. M. (1979). Population biology of infectious diseases: Part I. Nature, London 280, 361–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, R. M., Whitfield, P. J. & Dobson, A. P. (1978). Experimental studies on infection dynamics: infection of the definitive host by the cercariae of Transversotrema patialense. Parasitology 77, 189–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bailey, N. T. J. (1964). The Elements of Stochastic Processes. London: John Wiley.Google Scholar
Bartlett, M. S. (1960). Stochastic Population Models in Ecology and Epidemiology. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Boxshall, G. A. (1974). The population dynamics of Lepeoptheirus pectoralis (Muller): dispersion patterns. Parasitology 69, 373–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, A., Ward, R. A. & Garrie, M. B. (1980). Seasonal activity and frequency distributions of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting snowshoe hares in Nova Scotia, Canada. Journal of Medical Entomology 17, 22–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, D. R. & Miller, H. D. (1965). The Theory of Stochastic Processes. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Crofton, H. D. (1971 a). A quantitative approach to parasitism. Parasitology 62, 179–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crofton, H. D. (1971 b). A model of host–parasite relationships. Parasitology 63, 343–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, D. M. & Rau, M. E. (1982). Possible evidence for mortality induced by the parasite Apatemon gracilis in a population of brook sticklebacks Culaea inconstans. Parasitology 84, 41–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henricson, J. (1977). The abundance and distribution of Diphyllobothrium dentriticum (Nitzsch) and D. ditremum (Creplin) in the char Salvelinus alpinus. Journal of Fish Biology 11, 231–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarroll, E. L. Jr. (1979). Population biology of Bothriocephalus rarus Thomas (1937) in the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens Raf. Parasitology 79, 183–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, C. R. & Burrough, R. (1977). The population biology of two species of eyefluke, Diplostomum gasterostei and Tylodelphys clavata in perch. Journal of Fish Biology 11, 619–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keymer, A. E. & Anderson, R. M. (1979). The dynamics of infection of Tribolium confusum by Hymenolepis diminuta: the influence of infective stage density and spatial distribution. Parasitology 79, 195–207.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
May, R. M. (1975). Stability and Complexity in Model Ecosystems, 2nd ed.Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
May, R. M. (1977). Dynamical aspects of host–parasite associations: Crofton's model revisited. Parasitology 75, 259–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, R. M. & Anderson, R. M. (1978). Regulation and stability of host–parasite population interactions. II. Destabilizing processes. Journal of Animal Ecology 47, 249–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, R. M. & Anderson, R. M. (1979). Population biology of infectious diseases: Part II. Nature, London 280, 455–61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pennycuick, L. (1971). Frequency distributions of parasites in a population of three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus L.. with particular reference to the negative binomial distribution. Parasitology 63, 389–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pielou, E. C. (1969). An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology. New York: Wiley Interscience.Google Scholar
Randolph, S. E. (1975). Patterns of distribution of the tick Ixodes trianguliceps Birula on its hosts. Journal of Animal Ecology 44, 451–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutledge, L. C., Ward, R. A. & Buckwalter, R. M. (1973). Plasmodium spp: Dispersion of malarial oocyst populations in Anopheline and Culicine mosquitoes. Experimental Parasitology 34, 132–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmid, W. D. & Robinson, E. J. (1972). The pattern of a host–parasite distribution. Journal of Parasitology 57, 907–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L. R. (1961). Aggregation, variance and the mean. Nature, London 189, 732–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L. R. & Taylor, R. A. J. (1977). Aggregation, migration and population dynamics. Nature, London 265, 415–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L. R. & Woiwood, I. P. (1980). Temporal stability as a density-dependent species characteristic. Journal of Animal Ecology 49, 209–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, L. R., Woiwood, I. P. & Perry, J. N. (1978). The density dependence of spatial behaviour and the rarity of randomness. Journal of Animal Ecology 47, 383–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar