Mechanisms of disease-induced extinction

Abstract

Parasites are significant determinants of ecological dynamics. Despite the widespread perception that parasites threaten species with extinction, the simplest deterministic models of parasite dynamics predict that parasites will always go extinct before their hosts. Empirical studies support this notion since few cases show that disease alone can drive extinction. Instead, small pre-epidemic sizes and reservoirs of the pathogen are the most cited factors for disease-induced extinction in empirical studies. Whether non-density dependent transmission/inhomogeneous mixing, spatial dynamics/metapopulations, or specialist vs. generalist parasites influence disease-induced extinction in nature remains largely unclear. – AI-generated abstract