New Studies Show How to Save Parasites and Why it's Important
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New studies show how to save parasites and why it's important:
Unlike the many charismatic mammals, fishes and birds that receive our attention (and our conservation dollars), parasites are thought of as something to eradicate-and certainly not something to protect.
But only 4% of known parasites can infect humans, and the majority actually serve critical ecological roles, like regulating wildlife that might otherwise balloon in population size and become pests. Still, only about 10% of parasites have been identified and, as a result, they are mostly left out of conservation activities and research.
An international group of scientists wants to change that. About a dozen leading parasite ecologists, including University of Washington's Chelsea Wood, published a paper Aug. 1 in the journal Biological Conservation, which lays out an ambitious global conservation plan for parasites.
"Parasites are an incredibly diverse group of species, but as a society, we do not recognize this biological diversity as valuable," said Wood, an assistant professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "The point of this paper is to emphasize that we are losing parasites and the functions they serve without even recognizing it."
The authors propose 12 goals for the next decade that could advance parasite biodiversity conservation through a mix of research, advocacy and management.
"Even though we know little to nothing about most parasite species, we can still take action now to conserve parasite biodiversity," said Skylar Hopkins, paper and project co-lead and an assistant professor at North Carolina State University.
[...] Traditionally, the field of disease ecology assumes one of two paths: That we are either heading toward a future of more disease and massive outbreaks or toward a future of parasite extinction. This paper shows that both trajectories are happening simultaneously, Wood explained.
Journal Reference:
Chelsea L. Wood et al. How host diversity and abundance affect parasite infections: Results from a whole-ecosystem manipulation of bird activity, Biological Conservation (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108683
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