Abstract
Predicting the emergence, spread and evolution of parasites within and among host populations requires insight to both the spatial and temporal scales of adaptation, including an understanding of within-host up through community-level dynamics. Although there are very few pathosystems for which such extensive data exist, there has been a recent push to integrate studies performed over multiple scales or to simultaneously test for dynamics occurring across scales. Drawing on examples from the literature, with primary emphasis on three diverse host-parasite case studies, we first examine current understanding of the spatial structure of host and parasite populations, including patterns of local adaptation and spatial variation in host resistance and parasite infectivity. We then explore the ways to measure temporal variation and dynamics in host-parasite interactions and discuss the need to examine change over both ecological and evolutionary timescales. Finally, we highlight new approaches and syntheses that allow forsimultaneous analysis of dynamics across scales. We argue that there is greatvalue in examining interplay among scales in studies of host-parasite interactions.
Highlights
Spatiotemporal variation in disease occurrence generates variation in the intensity of selection on hosts and parasites, which in turn shapes occurrence patterns
Key insight into epidemiological and evolutionary processes can be gained by studying host–parasite interactions at spatial scales ranging from individuals to entire continents and at temporal scales ranging from within an individual’s lifespan to thousands of generations
We examine what we have learned about host–parasite interactions across scales independently, including the use of local adaptation studies and time shift experiments to gain information on the spatial and temporal scales of coevolution as well as the specificity of the interaction
Summary
Spatiotemporal variation in disease occurrence generates variation in the intensity of selection on hosts and parasites, which in turn shapes occurrence patterns. Studying patterns of disease prevalence at different spatial and temporal scales offers a glimpse into both the potential for and result of (co)evolution of hosts and their parasites. Key insight into epidemiological and evolutionary processes can be gained by studying host–parasite interactions at spatial scales ranging from individuals to entire continents and at temporal scales ranging from within an individual’s lifespan to thousands of generations. These scales are inherently hierarchical, as within-host processes at the smallest spatial scales underlie among-host processes in populations, and groups of populations interact with each other in metapopulations (Fig. 1A–C). The herbaceous plant Plantago lanceolata grows patchily within meadows due to habitat constraints, and individuals infected with the powdery mildew Podosphaera plantaginis are further aggregated due to factors including a limited range of parasite dispersal and small-scale genetic structure of the host
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