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Testing the energetic equivalence rule with helminth endoparasites of vertebrates
Author(s) -
GeorgeNascimento Mario,
Muñoz Gabriela,
Marquet Pablo A.,
Poulin Robert
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00609.x
Subject(s) - biology , parasitism , allometry , host (biology) , ecology , vertebrate , helminths , zoology , biochemistry , gene
As a general test of the energetic equivalence rule, we examined macroecological relationships among abundance, density and host body mass in a comparative analysis of the assemblages of trophically transmitted endoparasitic helminths of 131 species of vertebrate hosts. Both the numbers and total volume of parasites per gram of host decreased allometrically with host body mass, with slopes roughly consistent with those expected from the allometric relationship between host basal metabolic rate and body mass. From an evolutionary perspective, large body size may therefore allow hosts to escape from the deleterious effects of parasitism.