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Helminth communities of amphibians and reptiles: comparative approaches to understanding patterns and processes

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Parasite Communities: Patterns and Processes

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Abstract

Interest in the ecology of parasite communities has increased over the last decade. The increase in attention appears to reflect a shift in emphasis away from descriptive studies toward more quantitative approaches identifying processes responsible for creating community patterns. Recognition of three general features of parasite communities have contributed to the change in focus. First, helminth communities have discrete boundaries with each host individual representing replicate communities for statistical analysis of patterns. Second, by distinguishing either between different guilds (sensu Root, 1973) or among dominant or rare species (core/satellite or centrifugal species: Hanski, 1982; Rosenzweig and Abramsky, 1986), structure within a restricted group of species may be more apparent than for the community as a whole. Finally, communities of specialist organisms, such as parasites, might be structured in fundamentally different ways from generalist organisms (Price, 1980, 1984a).

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  1. John M. Aho
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

    Gerald W. Esch

  2. Department of Zoology, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada

    Albert O. Bush

  3. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, USA

    John M. Aho

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Aho, J.M. (1990). Helminth communities of amphibians and reptiles: comparative approaches to understanding patterns and processes. In: Esch, G.W., Bush, A.O., Aho, J.M. (eds) Parasite Communities: Patterns and Processes. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-0837-6_7

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