Understanding parasite transmission in communities requires knowledge of each species'
capacity to support transmission. This property,'competence', is a critical currency for …

Highlights•Behavioral defenses decrease risk of contracting and spreading parasites.•The
cumulative expression of multiple anti-parasite behaviors determines risk.•Behavioral …

Understanding how biodiversity affects pathogen transmission remains an unresolved
question due to the challenges in testing potential mechanisms in natural systems and how …

Tolerance, or the maintenance of host health or fitness at a given parasite burden, has often
been studied in evolutionary and medical contexts, particularly with respect to effects on the …

While the importance of changes in host biodiversity for disease risk continues to gain
empirical support, the influence of natural variation in parasite diversity on epidemiological …

Even apparently similar hosts can respond differently to the same parasites. Some
individuals or specific groups of individuals disproportionately affect disease dynamics …

Biodiversity loss may increase the risk of infectious disease in a phenomenon known as the
dilution effect. Circumstances that increase the likelihood of disease dilution are:(i) when …

Ongoing debate over the relationship between biodiversity and disease risk underscores the
need to develop a more mechanistic understanding of how changes in host community …

Debates over the relationship between biodiversity and disease dynamics underscore the
need for a more mechanistic understanding of how changes in host community composition …

Variation in host species composition can dramatically alter parasite transmission in natural
communities. Whether diverse host communities dilute or amplify parasite transmission is …