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Eating yourself sick: transmission of disease as a function of foraging ecology
Author(s) -
Hall Spencer R.,
SivarsBecker Lena,
Becker Claes,
Duffy Meghan A.,
Tessier Alan J.,
Cáceres Carla E.
Publication year - 2007
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.1461-0248.2007.01011.x
Subject(s) - foraging , daphnia , ecology , biology , zooplankton , transmission (telecommunications) , host (biology) , community , optimal foraging theory , zoology , habitat , electrical engineering , engineering
Species interactions may profoundly influence disease outbreaks. However, disease ecology has only begun to integrate interactions between hosts and their food resources (foraging ecology) despite that hosts often encounter their parasites while feeding. A zooplankton–fungal system illustrated this central connection between foraging and transmission. Using experiments that varied food density for Daphnia hosts, density of fungal spores and body size of Daphnia , we produced mechanistic yet general models for disease transmission rate based on broadly applicable components of feeding biology. Best performing models could explain why prevalence of infection declined at high food density and rose sharply as host size increased (a pattern echoed in nature). In comparison, the classic mass‐action model for transmission performed quite poorly. These foraging‐based models should broadly apply to systems in which hosts encounter parasites while eating, and they will catalyse future integration of the roles of Daphnia as grazer and host.