Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect.

ABSTRACT: Infectious diseases of humans, wildlife, and domesticated species are increasing worldwide, driving the need to understand the mechanisms that shape outbreaks. Simultaneously, human activities are drastically reducing biodiversity. These concurrent patterns have prompted repeated suggestions that biodiversity and disease are linked. For example, the dilution effect hypothesis posits that these patterns are causally related; diverse host communities inhibit the spread of parasites via several mechanisms, such as by regulating populations of susceptible hosts or interfering with parasite transmission. However, the generality of the dilution effect hypothesis remains controversial, especially for zoonotic diseases of humans. Here we provide broad evidence that host diversity inhibits parasite

SUBMITTER: Civitello DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4507196 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature