Parasitism: The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions

Picture life as a parasite. Whether you're a virus, trypanosome, fluke, or tick, you spend your life (or at least one stage of it) living on or in another organism. Your host is your habitat, your (unwitting) protector, your source of food and locomotion. You enjoy a number of advantages, such as a stable environment and shelter from most predators and competitors, but you also face significant challenges--chief among them how to coexist with your host, taking what you need without killing it. In Parasitism, Claude Combes explores the fascinating adaptations parasites have evolved in their intimate interactions with their hosts. He begins with the biology of parasites--their life cycles, habitats, and different types of associations with their hosts. Next he discusses genetic interactions between hosts and parasites, and he ends with a section on the community ecology of parasites and their role in the evolution of their hosts. Throughout the book Combes enlivens his discussion with a wealth of concrete examples of host-parasite interactions, such as paludism and schistosomiasis in humans, and many others--ranging from mobile DNA elements to protists and metazoans--that affect domestic and wild animals. Completely revised and updated to reflect the most current research, Parasitism will interest not just parasitologists but also ecologists and others studying community dynamics and coevolution.