Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites? Export

@article{HudsonDobson2006aa, abstract = {Historically, the role of parasites in ecosystem functioning has been considered trivial because a cursory examination reveals that their relative biomass is low compared with that of other trophic groups. However there is increasing evidence that parasite-mediated effects could be significant: they shape host population dynamics, alter interspecific competition, influence energy flow and appear to be important drivers of biodiversity. Indeed they influence a range of ecosystem functions and have a major effect on the structure of some food webs. Here, we consider the bottom-up and top-down processes of how parasitism influences ecosystem functioning and show that there is evidence that parasites are important for biodiversity and production; thus, we consider a healthy system to be one that is rich in parasite species.}, address = {Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. pjh18@psu.edu}, author = {Hudson, Peter J. and Dobson, Andrew P. and Lafferty, Kevin D.}, citeulike-article-id = {1933580}, doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2006.04.007}, journal = {Trends Ecol Evol}, keywords = {animals, bibtex-import, biodiversity, chain, ecology, ecosystem, ecosystem\_health, evolution, food, health, host-parasite, molecular, parasites, parasitesphysiology, parasitology, relationsphysiology}, local-url = {file://localhost/Users/timothee/Documents/Papers/Hudson/Is\%20a\%20healthy\%20ecosystem\%20one\%20that\%20is\%20rich\%20in\%20parasites\%3F.pdf}, number = {7}, pages = {381--385}, posted-at = {2007-11-18 14:00:48}, priority = {0}, title = {Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?}, volume = {21}, year = {2006} }

TY - JOUR ID - HudsonDobson2006aa L3 - citeulike-article-id:1933580 N2 - Historically, the role of parasites in ecosystem functioning has been considered trivial because a cursory examination reveals that their relative biomass is low compared with that of other trophic groups. However there is increasing evidence that parasite-mediated effects could be significant: they shape host population dynamics, alter interspecific competition, influence energy flow and appear to be important drivers of biodiversity. Indeed they influence a range of ecosystem functions and have a major effect on the structure of some food webs. Here, we consider the bottom-up and top-down processes of how parasitism influences ecosystem functioning and show that there is evidence that parasites are important for biodiversity and production; thus, we consider a healthy system to be one that is rich in parasite species. IS - 7 JF - Trends Ecol Evol AD - Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA. pjh18@psu.edu EP - 385 TI - Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites? VL - 21 SP - 381 KW - animals KW - bibtex-import KW - biodiversity KW - chain KW - ecology KW - ecosystem KW - ecosystem_health KW - evolution KW - food KW - health KW - host-parasite KW - molecular KW - parasites KW - parasitesphysiology KW - parasitology KW - relationsphysiology AU - Hudson, Peter AU - Dobson, Andrew AU - Lafferty, Kevin PY - 2006/// ER -