Parasites as conservation tools
Roderick B. Gagne, Kevin R. Crooks, Meggan E. Craft, Elliott S. Chiu, Nicholas M. Fountain‐Jones, Jennifer L. Malmberg, Scott Carver, W. Chris Funk, Sue VandeWoude
Abstract
Parasite success typically depends on a close relationship with one or more hosts; therefore, attributes of parasitic infection have the potential to provide indirect details of host natural history and are biologically relevant to animal conservation. Characterization of parasite infections has been useful in delineating host populations and has served as a proxy for assessment of environmental quality. In other cases, the utility of parasites is just being explored, for example, as indicators of host connectivity. Innovative studies of parasite biology can provide information to manage major conservation threats by using parasite assemblage, prevalence, or genetic data to provide insights into the host. Overexploitation, habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, and climate change are major threats to animal conservation, and all of these can be informed by parasites.