The Impact of Coinfection Dynamics on Host Competition and Coexistence.

AbstractParasites can mediate competition among host species in an ecological community by differentially affecting key parameters that normally give one species a competitive edge. In nature, however, coinfecting parasites that antagonize or facilitate each other-for example, by altering cross-protective host immune responses-can modulate host infection outcomes and parasite transmission relative to a single infection. Under what conditions is coinfection likely to interfere with parasite-mediated apparent competition among hosts? To address this question, we created a model of two coinfected host species.