Parasites Vastly Outweigh Predators In Estuaries: Could Have Significant Ecological Implications

In a study of free-living and parasitic species in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, a team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, the United States Geological Survey, and Princeton University has determined that parasite biomass in those habitats exceeds that of top predators, in some cases by a factor of 20.

Their findings, which could have significant biomedical and ecological implications, appear in the July 24 issue of the science journal Nature.

According to Armand Kuris, a professor of zoology in UCSB’s Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology and a lead author of the paper, the study’s findings have a potential impact on the perceived role of parasites in an ecosystem. From an ecological perspective, parasites serve both as regulators to prevent species from becoming numerically dominant and as indicators of the health of a particular ecosystem. The study shows for the first time that parasites might drive the flow of energy in ecosystems.

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Tags: Armand Kuris, Baja California, California, Ecology, Ecosystems, Estuaries, Nature, Parasites, Predators, Zoology