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Parasite strain coexistence in a heterogeneous host population
Author(s) -
Green Darren M.,
Kiss Istvan Z.,
Kao Rowland R.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
oikos
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1600-0706
pISSN - 0030-1299
DOI - 10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.15155.x
Subject(s) - host (biology) , biology , population , transmissibility (structural dynamics) , spatial heterogeneity , homogeneous , parasite hosting , transmission (telecommunications) , susceptible individual , strain (injury) , selection (genetic algorithm) , evolutionary biology , ecology , demography , physics , vibration isolation , quantum mechanics , anatomy , sociology , world wide web , computer science , electrical engineering , vibration , engineering , thermodynamics , artificial intelligence
Heterogeneity in host susceptibility and transmissibility to parasite attack allows a lower transmission rate to sustain an epidemic than is required in homogeneous host populations. However, this heterogeneity can leave some hosts with little susceptibility to disease, and at high transmission rates, epidemic size can be smaller than for diseases where the host population is homogeneous. In a heterogeneous host population, we model natural selection in a parasite population where host heterogeneity is exploited by different strains to varying degrees. This partitioning of the host population allows coexistence of competing parasite strains, with the heterogeneity‐exploiting strains infecting the more susceptible hosts, in the absence of physiological tradeoffs and spatial heterogeneity, and even for markedly different transmission rates. In our model, intermediate‐strategy parasites were selected against: should coexistence occur, an equilibrium is reached where strains occupied only the extreme ends of trait space, under appropriate conditions selecting for lower R 0 .