Host centrality in food web networks determines parasite diversity

Parasites significantly alter topological metrics describing food web structure, yet few studies have explored the relationship between food web topology and parasite diversity. This study uses quantitative metrics describing network structure to investigate the relationship between the topology of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-10, Vol.6 (10), p.e26798-e26798
Main Authors: Anderson, Tavis K, Sukhdeo, Michael V K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biodiversity
Biogeography
Biology
Cartography
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystems
Evolution
Fisheries
Fishes
Food Chain
Food chains
Food webs
Host-Parasite Interactions
Islands
Life cycles
Marshes
Mathematics
Metabolism
Modular structures
Parasites
Parasitism
Plant reproduction
Restoration
Species diversity
Theory
Topology
Trophic relationships
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Summary:Parasites significantly alter topological metrics describing food web structure, yet few studies have explored the relationship between food web topology and parasite diversity. This study uses quantitative metrics describing network structure to investigate the relationship between the topology of the host food web and parasite diversity. Food webs were constructed for four restored brackish marshes that vary in species diversity, time post restoration and levels of parasitism. Our results show that the topology of the food web in each brackish marsh is highly nested, with clusters of generalists forming a distinct modular structure. The most consistent predictors of parasite diversity within a host were: trophic generality, and eigenvector centrality. These metrics indicate that parasites preferentially colonise host species that are highly connected, and within modules of tightly interacting species in the food web network. These results suggest that highly connected free-living species within the food web may represent stable trophic relationships that allow for the persistence of complex parasite life cycles. Our data demonstrate that the structure of host food webs can have a significant effect on the establishment of parasites, and on the potential for evolution of complex parasite life cycles.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0026798