Evidence for carry-over effects of predator exposure on pathogen transmission potential.
Accumulating evidence indicates that species interactions such as competition and predation can indirectly alter interactions with other community members, including parasites. For example, presence of predators can induce behavioural defences in the prey, resulting in a change in susceptibility to parasites. Such predator-induced phenotypic changes may be especially pervasive in prey with discrete larval and adult stages, for which exposure to predators during larval development can have strong carry-over effects on adult phenotypes. To the best of our knowledge, no study to date has examined possible carry-over effects of predator exposure on pathogen transmission. We addressed this question using a natural food web consisting of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, the mosquito vector Anopheles coluzzii and a backswimmer, an aquatic predator of mosquito larvae. Although predator exposure did not significantly alter mosquito susceptibility to P. falciparum, it incurred strong fitness costs on other key mosquito life-history traits, including larval development, adult size, fecundity and longevity. Using an epidemiological model, we show that larval predator exposure should overall significantly decrease malaria transmission. These results highlight the importance of taking into account the effect of environmental stressors on disease ecology and epidemiology.
['Roux|Olivier|O|', 'Vantaux|Amélie|A|', 'Roche|Benjamin|B|', 'Yameogo|Koudraogo B|KB|', 'Dabiré|Kounbobr R|KR|', 'Diabaté|Abdoulaye|A|', 'Simard|Frederic|F|', 'Lefèvre|Thierry|T|']
D000818:Animals D000852:Anopheles D005260:Female D005298:Fertility D020387:Food Chain D020062:Heteroptera D006801:Humans D007303:Insect Vectors D007814:Larva D008136:Longevity D016778:Malaria, Falciparum D008297:Male D010963:Plasmodium falciparum D011235:Predatory Behavior
carry-over effects Plasmodium falciparum Anopheles coluzzii host–parasite and predator–prey interactions life history non-consumptive effects