Does genetic diversity protect host populations from parasites? A meta-analysis across natural and agricultural systems.

ABSTRACT: If parasites transmit more readily between closely related hosts, then parasite burdens should decrease with increased genetic diversity of host populations. This important hypothesis is often accepted at face value-notorious epidemics of crop monocultures testify to the vulnerability of host populations that have been purged of diversity. Yet the relationship between genetic diversity and parasitism likely varies across contexts, differing between crop and noncrop hosts and between experimental and natural host populations. Here, we used a meta-analytic approach to ask if host diversity confers protection against parasites over the range of contexts in which it has been tested. We synthesized the results of 102 studies, comprising 2004 effect sizes representing a diversity of approaches a

SUBMITTER: Gibson AK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7857278 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature