Spatiotemporal modeling of parasite aggregation among fish hosts in a lentic ecosystem
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Spatiotemporal modeling of parasite aggregation among fish hosts in a lentic ecosystem Christian Alvin H. Buhat1 · Jomar F. Rabajante1 · Vachel Gay V. Paller2 Received: 31 May 2020 / Accepted: 1 October 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Parasite aggregation is a frequently occurring phenomenon where majority of the parasites accumulate in the smaller fraction of the host population while many individual hosts have low parasite load. One of the mechanisms of parasite aggregation is heterogeneity in the host-parasite interaction. Here, we aim to develop and analyze a spatiotemporal model to explain the details of this mechanism. We construct an agent-based simulation involving fish hosts that forage on zooplanktons harboring macroparasites. In this study, we restrict our simulations to a lentic ecosystem, i.e., still, closed freshwater environment. Our simulations show that (i) the initial sizes of the population of both the fish and zooplanktons have minimal effect on the aggregation of parasites; (ii) increasing the probabilities of reproduction of both fish and zooplankton lead to parasite aggregation among fish hosts; and (iii) aggregation occurs either by decreasing the size of the infection area or increasing the size of the zooplankton-free area in the lentic ecosystem. Our results can be used to provide insights and visualization of the underlying processes leading to aggregation. These can also be used to aid experimentalists in determining the statistical distribution of parasites in hosts for disease prevention and control. Keywords Parasite aggregation · Spatiotemporal model · Agent-based model · Negative binomial · Lentic ecosystem
Introduction In an antagonistic relationship such as parasitism, parasites benefit while hosts are harmed. For example, fish are infected by parasites that grow and feed on parts of the fish (Iyaji and Eyo 2009). Usual parasites of fish include microparasites such as protozoans (e.g., microsporidians and myxozoans), and macroparasites (e.g., helminths and arthropods). Parasites are divided into two groups: ectoparasites (parasites living on the surface of the host) and endoparasites (parasites living inside the body of the host) (Bellay et al. 2015). The effect on the hosts include mechanical, * Christian Alvin H. Buhat [email protected] Jomar F. Rabajante [email protected] Vachel Gay V. Paller [email protected] 1
Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
2
physical, behavioral, and reproductive damages which may result in multiple maladaptive changes to the infected hosts (Iwanowicz 2011). In this research, we study the pattern of endomacroparasite distribution in fish host population. Parasites tend to have an aggregated distribution among the hosts, which is an intrinsic ecological characteristic of metazoan parasites as observed by Crofton (1971). Shaw and Do
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