Understanding The Relationship Between Host Size, Multiple Infections, And Parasite Reproduction
Project Description
Parasites are an important player in natural communities, yet are understudied. Parasites can regulate population size, reduce individual health and reproduction, change host behaviour, and alter energy flows through a community. Understanding the impacts of parasites on natural communities an important and challenging area of research. The impact of parasites can be considerable- in some ecosystems, the biomass of parasites is greater than that of top predators like birds.
The goal of this project is to understand the relationship between host size, multiple infections, and parasite reproduction. We have found that as host size increases, the probability of multiple infections increases. We have also found that as host size increases, parasite reproduction increases when there is only one parasite.
