Animal Behavior and Parasitism

About this book

We live in a world teeming with parasites. Many animal behaviours, including social interactions, mating displays, and decisions about where to move, nest, and forage are shaped by interactions with parasites. The same is true for humans, where our attraction to mates, hygienic behaviours, food choices, and decisions about when and where to gather in groups often depend on current and perceived infection risk. In turn, behaviours like social distancing and self-medication can alter the trajectories of parasite transmission and evolution, as vividly illustrated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The myriad connections between animal behaviour and parasitism have been the subject of growing research interest since the 1970s and 80s, when fundamental theories linking the two fields of study emerged. Since then, a combination of conceptual and technological advances, and increased integration of ideas across disciplines, have helped to uncover fascinating new connections between animal behaviour and the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. This accessible text surveys emerging research in this vibrant field. Chapters focus on fundamental topics at the interface of animal behaviour and parasitism, and authors have been selected to provide a diverse and international perspective.

Animal Behavior and Parasitism is an upper-level text suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate level students as well as professional researchers in animal behaviour/behavioural ecology, disease ecology, parasitology, and evolutionary biology.

Contents

Part I: Introduction
1. Animal behavior and parasitism: where have we been, where are we going? / Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Sonia Altizer, and Richard J. Hall
2. Parasites, host behavior, and their feedbacks / Dana M. Hawley and Vanessa O. Ezenwa

Part II: Social Behavior
3. Parasites in a social world: lessons from primates / Baptiste Sadoughi, Simone Anzà, Charlotte Defolie, Virgile Manin, Nadine Müller-Klein, Tatiana Murillo, Markus Ulrich, and Doris Wu
4. Constructing animal networks for parasite transmission inference / Janine Mistrick, Marie L.J. Gilbertson, Lauren A. White, and Meggan E. Craft
5. Collective behavior and parasite transmission / Carl N. Keiser

Part III: Movement Behavior
6. Movement data provides insight into feedbacks and heterogeneities in host-parasite interactions / Orr Spiegel, Nili Anglister, and Miranda M Crafton
7. Animal migration and infection dynamics: recent advances and future frontiers / Richard J. Hall, Sonia Altizer, Stephanie J. Peacock, and Allison K. Shaw
8. Seasonal human movement and the consequences for infectious disease transmission / Hannah R. Meredith and Amy Wesolowski

Part IV: Sexual Selection and Mating Behavior
9. Parasite-mediated sexual selection: to mate or not to mate? / Alistair Pirrie, Hettie Chapman, and Ben Ashby
10. Shared biochemical pathways for ornamentation and immune function: rethinking the mechanisms underlying honest signalling of parasite resistance / Rebecca E. Koch and Geoffrey E. Hill
11. The genes of attraction: mating behavior, immunogenetic variation, and parasite resistance / Jamie C. Winternitz and Jessica L. Abbate

Part V: Parasite Modification of Host Behavior
12. Host manipulation by parasites: from individual to collective behavior / Stephanie S. Godfrey and Robert Poulin
13. Altered feeding behaviors in disease vectors / Lauren J. Cator

Part VI: Behavioral Defenses
14. Infection avoidance behaviors across vertebrate taxa: patterns, processes, and future directions / Patricia C. Lopes, Susannah S. French, Douglas C. Woodhams, and Sandra A. Binning
15. Inter-individual variation in parasite avoidance behaviors and its epidemiological, ecological, and evolutionary consequences / Clémence Poirotte and Marie J. E. Charpentier
16. Behavioral defenses against parasitoids: genetic and neuronal mechanisms / Shaun Davis and Todd Schlenke
17. The behavior of infected hosts: behavioral tolerance, behavioral resilience, and their implications for behavioral competence / Jessica F. Stephenson and James S. Adelman

Part VII: Emerging Frontiers
18. Emerging frontiers in animal behavior and parasitism: integration across scales / Sarah Guindre-Parker, Jenny Tung, and Alexander T. Strauss
19. Parallels in parasite behavior: the other side of the host-parasite relationship / Emlyn J. Resetarits, Lewis J. Bartlett, Cali A. Wilson, Anna R. Willoughby

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Biography

Vanessa Ezenwa is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. She studies interactions between hosts and their parasites from physiological, behavioural, and ecological perspectives. She is a senior editor at Ecology Letters and President-Elect of the Animal Behavior Society.

Sonia Altizer is a Professor in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. She studies infectious disease ecology and its interface with animal behaviour, anthropogenic change, and evolution. Much of her empirical work focuses on monarch butterflies and a protozoan parasite to better understand the consequences of host movement for animal-pathogen interactions.

Richard Hall is an Associate Professor at the Odum School of Ecology and Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia. He uses mathematical models to study host-parasite interactions and their response to global environmental change, with particular application to migratory animals and behavioural changes associated with urbanization and resource subsidy. He is also an avid birder and wildlife gardener.


Contributors:
- Jessica L. Abbate
- James S. Adelman
- Sonia Altizer
- Nili Anglister
- Simone Anzà
- Ben Ashby
- Lewis J. Bartlett
- Sandra A. Binning
- Lauren J. Cator
- Hettie Chapman
- Marie J. E. Charpentier
- Meggan E. Craft
- Miranda M Crafton
- Shaun Davis
- Charlotte Defolie
- Vanessa O. Ezenwa
- Susannah S. French
- Marie L.J. Gilbertson
- Stephanie S. Godfrey
- Sarah Guindre-Parker
- Richard J. Hall
- Dana M. Hawley
- Geoffrey E. Hill
- Carl N. Keiser
- Rebecca E. Koch
- Patricia C. Lopes
- Virgile Manin
- Hannah R. Meredith
- Janine Mistrick
- Nadine Müller-Klein
- Tatiana Murillo
- Stephanie J. Peacock
- Alistair Pirrie
- Clémence Poirotte
- Robert Poulin
- Emlyn J. Resetarits
- Baptiste Sadoughi
- Todd Schlenke
- Allison K. Shaw
- Orr Spiegel
- Jessica F. Stephenson
- Alexander T. Strauss
- Jenny Tung
- Markus Ulrich
- Amy Wesolowski
- Lauren A. White
- Anna R. Willoughby
- Cali A. Wilson
- Jamie C. Winternitz
- Douglas C. Woodhams
- Doris Wu