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Climate influences parasite-mediated competitive release

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2011

MARTIN H. LARSEN ,
K. THOMAS JENSEN  and
KIM N. MOURITSEN
MARTIN H. LARSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Bioscience, Marine Ecology, University of Aarhus, Ole Worms Allé 1, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
K. THOMAS JENSEN
Affiliation:
Department of Bioscience, Marine Ecology, University of Aarhus, Ole Worms Allé 1, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
KIM N. MOURITSEN*
Affiliation:
Department of Bioscience, Marine Ecology, University of Aarhus, Ole Worms Allé 1, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
*
*Corresponding author: Tel: +45 89424386. Fax: +45 89424387. E-mail: kim.mouritsen@biology.au.dk
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Summary

Parasitism is believed to play an important role in maintaining species diversity, for instance by facilitating coexistence between competing host species. However, the possibility that environmental factors may govern the outcome of parasite-mediated competition has rarely been considered. The closely related amphipods Corophium volutator and Corophium arenarium both serve as second intermediate host for detrimental trematodes. Corophium volutator is the superior competitor of the two, but also suffers from higher mortality when exposed to infective trematode stages. Here, we report parasite-mediated competitive release of C. arenarium in an intertidal habitat, in part triggered by unusually high temperatures linked to the North Atlantic climate oscillation (NAO). The elevated temperatures accelerated the transmission of cercariae from sympatric first intermediate hosts (mud snails) to amphipods, causing a local collapse of the parasite-sensitive C. volutator population and concordant increase in the abundance of the competitively inferior C. arenarium.

Keywords

climate changecommunity structurecompetitionCorophiumhost–parasite interactionstrematodes
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 138 , Issue 11 , September 2011 , pp. 1436 - 1441
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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