Wood Chelsea L, Johnson Pieter Tj
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Michigan Society of Fellows, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
Front Ecol Environ. 2015 Oct;13(8):425-434. doi: 10.1890/140368. Epub 2015 Oct 1.
Parasites have historically been considered a scourge, deserving of annihilation. Although parasite eradications rank among humanity's greatest achievements, new research is shedding light on the collateral effects of parasite loss. Here, we explore a "world without parasites": a thought experiment for illuminating the ecological roles that parasites play in ecosystems. While there is robust evidence for the effects of parasites on host individuals (eg affecting host vital rates), this exercise highlights how little we know about the influence of parasites on communities and ecosystems (eg altering energy flow through food webs). We present hypotheses for novel, interesting, and general effects of parasites. These hypotheses are largely untested, and should be considered a springboard for future research. While many uncertainties exist, the available evidence suggests that a world without parasites would be very different from the world we know, with effects extending from host individuals to populations, communities, and even ecosystems.
从历史上看，寄生虫一直被视为一种灾祸，理应被根除。尽管消灭寄生虫是人类最伟大的成就之一，但新的研究正在揭示寄生虫消失所带来的附带影响。在这里，我们探索一个“没有寄生虫的世界”：这是一个用于阐明寄生虫在生态系统中所扮演的生态角色的思想实验。虽然有确凿证据表明寄生虫对宿主个体有影响（例如影响宿主的生命率），但这项研究突出了我们对寄生虫对群落和生态系统的影响（例如改变通过食物网的能量流动）了解甚少。我们提出了关于寄生虫新奇、有趣且普遍影响的假设。这些假设大多未经检验，应被视为未来研究的一个跳板。尽管存在许多不确定性，但现有证据表明，一个没有寄生虫的世界将与我们所知的世界大不相同，其影响范围从宿主个体延伸到种群、群落，甚至生态系统。
