Parasites in Ecological Communities

Melanie J. Hatcher is Visiting Research Fellow, School of Biology, University of Bristol, and Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds. Alison M. Dunn is Reader in Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds.

• Part I. Introduction; Part II. Parasites and Competitors: 1. Introduction; 2. One host-one parasite systems; 3. Apparent competition; 4. Parasite-mediated competition; 5. Parasite-modified competition; 6. Examples from conservation and management; 7. Competition between parasites; 8. Conclusions; Part III. Parasites and Predators: 9. Introduction; 10. Parasites of prey with specialist predators; 11. Parasites of prey with generalist predators; 12. Parasites of predator; 13. Parasites of predator and prey; 14. Applications: predator control and harvesting; 15. Conclusions; Part IV. Parasites and Intraguild Predation: 16. Introduction; 17. Ecological significance of IGP; 18. IGP as a unifying framework for competition and predation; 19. Parasites intrinsic to IGP; 20. Parasites extrinsic to IGP; 21. Models of parasitism extrinsic to IGP; 22. IGP and the evolution of host-parasite relationships; 23. Conclusions; Part V. Plant Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: 24. Introduction: parasitism of plants; 25. Soil borne pathogens; 26. Plant defence strategies; 27. Parasitic plants; 28. Endophytes; 29. Conclusions; Part VI. Parasites and Invasions: 30. Introduction; 31. Parasite introduction and acquisition; 32. Loss of parasites by invaders: enemy release; 33. Invasions and host-parasite co-evolution; 34. The impact of parasitism on biological invasion; 35. Conclusions; Part VII. Ecosystem Parasitology: 36. Introduction; 37. Trophic cascades; 38. Parasite dynamics in multihost communities; 39. Biodiversity and disease; 40. Parasites in the food web; 41. Bioenergetic implications of parasitism; 42. Ecosystem engineering; 43. Ecosystem health; 44. Evolutionary considerations; 45. Conclusions; Part VIII. Emerging Diseases in Humans and Wildlife: 46. Introduction; 47. The process of disease emergence; 48. The evolution of emergence; 49. Phylogenetic and temporal patterns of emergence; 50. Environmental change and emergence; 51. Conservation and control; 52. Conclusions; Part IX. Where Do We Go From Here?; References; Index.

'Hatcher and Dunn have done us a great service. Theirs is an important and timely book that should catalyse research at the interface of epidemiology and community ecology. It reads well … is also well referenced … With its nice combination of models and empirical examples, [this book] seems tailor-made for a graduate course in community ecology or ecological parasitology.' Robert Poulin, Ecology