Allee effect from parasite spill-back

Overview
TitleAllee effect from parasite spill-back
AuthorsKrkošek M, Ashander J, Frazer LN, Lewis MA
TypeJournal Article
Journal NameThe American naturalist
Volume182
Issue5
Year2013
Page(s)640-52
CitationKrkošek M, Ashander J, Frazer LN, Lewis MA. Allee effect from parasite spill-back. The American naturalist. 2013 Nov; 182(5):640-52.

Abstract

The exchange of native pathogens between wild and domesticated animals can lead to novel disease threats to wildlife. However, the dynamics of wild host-parasite systems exposed to a reservoir of domesticated hosts are not well understood. A simple mathematical model reveals that the spill-back of native parasites from domestic to wild hosts may cause a demographic Allee effect in the wild host population. A second model is tailored to the particulars of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis), for which parasite spill-back is a conservation and fishery concern. In both models, parasite spill-back weakens the coupling of parasite and wild host abundance-particularly at low host abundance-causing parasites per host to increase as a wild host population declines. These findings show that parasites shared across host populations have effects analogous to those of generalist predators and can similarly cause an unstable equilibrium in a focal host population that separates persistence and extirpation. Allee effects in wildlife arising from parasite spill-back are likely to be most pronounced in systems where the magnitude of transmission from domestic to wild host populations is high because of high parasite abundance in domestic hosts, prolonged sympatry of domestic and wild hosts, a high transmission coefficient for parasites, long-lived parasite larvae, and proximity of domesticated populations to wildlife migration corridors.

Author Details
Additional information about authors:
Details
1Martin Krkošek
2Jaime Ashander
3L Neil Frazer
4Mark A Lewis
Properties
Additional details for this publication include:
Property NameValue
Publication ModelPrint-Electronic
ISSN1537-5323
eISSN1537-5323
Publication Date2013 Nov
Journal AbbreviationAm. Nat.
DOI10.1086/673238
Elocation10.1086/673238
LanguageEnglish
Language Abbreng
Publication TypeJournal Article
Journal CountryUnited States
Publication TypeResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Cross References
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DatabaseAccession
PMID: PMID:24107371