Publications by authors named "Danny J Sheath"
Article Synopsis
- Understanding ecological community structure is crucial, and current models often overlook individual variability, limiting clarity on interactions among species.
- This study introduces an individual-trait based method that focuses on specific size traits of plants and pollinators to analyze mutualistic networks, revealing patterns that species-based models miss.
- The results indicate that individual trait-based networks are richer and more informative, suggesting that combining both trait-based and species-based approaches will enhance our understanding of ecological interactions.
Parasite manipulation of intermediate hosts evolves to increase parasite trophic transmission to final hosts, yet counter selection should act on the final host to reduce infection risk and costs. However, determining who wins this arms race and to what extent is challenging. Here, for the first time, comparative functional response analysis quantified final host consumption patterns with respect to intermediate host parasite status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPredicting how elevated temperatures from climate change alter host-parasite interactions requires understandings of how warming affects host susceptibility and parasite virulence. Here, the effect of elevated water temperature and parasite exposure level was tested on parasite prevalence, abundance and burden, and on fish growth, using Pomphorhynchus laevis and its fish host Squalius cephalus. At 60 days post-exposure, prevalence was higher at the elevated temperature (22 °C) than ambient temperature (18 °C), with infections achieved at considerably lower levels of exposure.
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