Determining patterns of host use, and the frequency at which these patterns change, are of
key importance if we are to understand tick population dynamics, the evolution of tick …

Comparative ecology uses interspecific relationships among traits, while accounting for the
phylogenetic non-independence of species, to uncover general evolutionary processes …

Viruses infect all forms of life and play critical roles as agents of disease, drivers of
biochemical cycles and sources of genetic diversity for their hosts. Our understanding of viral …

Understanding how parasites are transmitted to new species is of great importance for
human health, agriculture and conservation. However, it is still unclear why some parasites …

The concept of β-diversity, defined as dissimilarity among communities, has been widely
used to investigate biodiversity patterns and community assembly rules. However, in …

Background Spillover of parasites at the domestic animal-wildlife interface is a pervasive
threat to animal health. Cat and dog fleas (Ctenocephalides felis and C. canis) are among …

Hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) are medically important ectoparasites that feed on all classes
of terrestrial vertebrates. Recently, we molecularly characterized hard ticks and associated …

The range of hosts a pathogen infects (host specificity) is a key element of disease risk that
may be influenced by both shared phylogenetic history and shared ecological attributes of …

The study of biodiversity started as a single unified field that spanned both ecology and
evolution and both macro and micro phenomena. But over the 20th century, major trends …

Identification of mechanisms that shape parasite community and metacommunity structures
have important implications to host health, disease transmission, and the understanding of …