Ruminating on complexity: macroparasites of wildlife and livestock

Recent advances in ecology have improved our understanding of the role of parasites in the dynamics of wildlife populations. However, conditions that prevail in many wildlife systems, such as host movement, contact with livestock, and heterogeneity in the environment of the parasite outside of the h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam) 2004-04, Vol.19 (4), p.181-188
Main Authors: Morgan, Eric R., Milner-Gulland, E.J., Torgerson, Paul R., Medley, Graham F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biological evolution
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Recent advances in ecology have improved our understanding of the role of parasites in the dynamics of wildlife populations. However, conditions that prevail in many wildlife systems, such as host movement, contact with livestock, and heterogeneity in the environment of the parasite outside of the host, have largely been ignored in existing models of macroparasite transmission. We need to refine these models if we are to stand a chance of developing effective parasite control strategies. New quantitative approaches enable us to address key complexities and make better use of scarce data, and these should enhance our efforts to understand and control emerging problems of interspecific parasite transmission.
ISSN:0169-5347
1872-8383
DOI:10.1016/j.tree.2004.01.011