The evolution of parasite manipulation of host dispersal

We investigate the evolution of manipulation of host dispersal behaviour by parasites using spatially explicit individual-based simulations. We find that when dispersal is local, parasites always gain from increasing their hosts' dispersal rate, although the evolutionary outcome is determined b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2006-05, Vol.273 (1590), p.1063-1071
Main Authors: Lion, Sébastien, van Baalen, Minus, Wilson, William G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Adaptive Dynamics
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Biodiversity
Biodiversity and Ecology
Biological Evolution
Ecological genetics
Ecological modeling
Ecology
Environmental Sciences
Evolution
Evolutionarily Stable Strategy
Host-Parasite Interactions - physiology
Life Sciences
Metapopulation ecology
Migration
Parasite hosts
Parasites
Parasites - pathogenicity
Parasites - physiology
Parasitic Diseases - parasitology
Parasitism
Population structure
Populations and Evolution
Spatial Behavior
Spatial Dynamics
Stochastic Processes
Stochastic Simulation
Virulence
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Summary:We investigate the evolution of manipulation of host dispersal behaviour by parasites using spatially explicit individual-based simulations. We find that when dispersal is local, parasites always gain from increasing their hosts' dispersal rate, although the evolutionary outcome is determined by the costs-to-benefits ratio. However, when dispersal can be non-local, we show that parasites investing in an intermediate dispersal distance of their hosts are favoured even when the manipulation is not costly, due to the intrinsic spatial dynamics of the host-parasite interaction. Our analysis highlights the crucial importance of ecological spatial dynamics in evolutionary processes and reveals the theoretical possibility that parasites could manipulate their hosts' dispersal.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2005.3412