The ghost of hosts past: impacts of host extinction on parasite specificity

Farrell, M. J. , Park, A. W., Cressler, C. E., Dallas, T., Huang, S., Mideo, N., Morales-Castilla, I., Davies, T. J. and Stephens, P. (2021) The ghost of hosts past: impacts of host extinction on parasite specificity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 376(1837), 20200351. (doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0351) (PMID:34538147) (PMCID:PMC8450631)

Abstract

A growing body of research is focused on the extinction of parasite species in response to host endangerment and declines. Beyond the loss of parasite species richness, host extinction can impact apparent parasite host specificity, as measured by host richness or the phylogenetic distances among hosts. Such impacts on the distribution of parasites across the host phylogeny can have knock-on effects that may reshape the adaptation of both hosts and parasites, ultimately shifting the evolutionary landscape underlying the potential for emergence and the evolution of virulence across hosts. Here, we examine how the reshaping of host phylogenies through extinction may impact the host specificity of parasites, and offer examples from historical extinctions, present-day endangerment, and future projections of biodiversity loss. We suggest that an improved understanding of the impact of host extinction on contemporary host–parasite interactions may shed light on core aspects of disease ecology, including comparative studies of host specificity, virulence evolution in multi-host parasite systems, and future trajectories for host and parasite biodiversity. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Infectious disease macroecology: parasite diversity and dynamics across the globe’.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The authors thank the Macroecology of Infectious Disease Research Coordination Network, jointly funded by NSF, NIH and USDA (grant no. NSF DEB 1316223), for facilitating discussion among the authors, and for supporting M.J.F. as a postdoctoral research associate. S.H. was supported by the German Science Foundation (grant no. DFG, HU 2748/1-1). I.M.C. acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (grant no. PID2019-109711RJ-I00). M.J.F. is currently supported by the University of Toronto Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Farrell, Dr Maxwell
• Authors: Farrell, M. J., Park, A. W., Cressler, C. E., Dallas, T., Huang, S., Mideo, N., Morales-Castilla, I., Davies, T. J., and Stephens, P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
• Journal Name: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Publisher: The Royal Society
• ISSN: 0962-8436
• ISSN (Online): 1471-2970
• Published Online: 20 September 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 376(1837): 20200351
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
• Data DOI: 0.6084/m9.figshare.14573787