Measuring aggregation in parasite populations.

ABSTRACT: Aggregation, a fundamental feature of parasite distributions, has been measured using a variety of indices. We use the definition that parasite-host system A is more aggregated than parasite-host system B if any given proportion of the parasite population is concentrated in a smaller proportion of the host population A than of host population B. This leads to indices based on the Lorenz curve such as the Gini index (Poulin's D), coefficient of variation and the Hoover index, all of which measure departure from a uniform distribution. The Hoover index is particularly useful because it can be interpreted directly in terms of parasites and hosts. An alternative view of aggregation is degree of departure from a Poisson (or random) distribution, as used in the

SUBMITTER: McVinish R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7211486 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature