Background Although parasitism has been acknowledged as an important selective force in
the evolution of host life histories, studies of fitness effects of parasites in wild populations …

The factors that influence whether a parasite is likely to cause death in a given host species
are not well known. Generalist parasites with high local abundances, broad distributions and …

Parasites are considered drivers of population regulation in some species; unfortunately the
research leading to this hypothesis has all been conducted on managed populations. Still …

Avian blood parasites can have significant impacts on adult breeding birds but studies of
parasitism outside the breeding season are rare, despite their potentially important …

As environmental change drives reductions in free-living species abundance and diversity,
at least two alternative pathways are possible for parasitic species. On one hand, diversity …

Hosts counteract infections using two distinct defence strategies, resistance (reduction in
pathogen fitness) and tolerance (limitation of infection damage). These strategies have been …

Summary 1 Parasites might preferentially feed on hosts in good nutritional condition as such
hosts provide better resources for the parasites' own growth, survival and reproduction …

Parasites can have important effects on host populations influencing either fecundity or
mortality, but understanding the magnitude of these effects in endemic host–parasite …

Immune responses have evolved to defend hosts efficiently against the debilitating effects of
parasites on host fitness. However, there are relatively few studies of the efficiency of the …

Parasitism is a common cause of host mortality, but little is known about the ecological
factors affecting parasite virulence (the rate of mortality among infected hosts). We reviewed …