Evolution of behavioural resistance in host-pathogen systems

Behavioural resistance to parasites is widespread in animals, yet little is known about the evolutionary dynamics that have shaped these strategies. We show that theory developed for the evolution of physiological parasite resistance can only be applied to behavioural resistance under limited circum...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiology letters (2005) Vol. 16; no. 9; p. 20200508
Main Authors Amoroso, Caroline R, Antonovics, Janis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 01.09.2020
Subjects
Animals
Biological Evolution
Evolutionary Biology
Host-Parasite Interactions
Humans
Parasites
epidemics
disgust
genetic polymorphism
avoidance behaviour
social distancing
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Summary:Behavioural resistance to parasites is widespread in animals, yet little is known about the evolutionary dynamics that have shaped these strategies. We show that theory developed for the evolution of physiological parasite resistance can only be applied to behavioural resistance under limited circumstances. We find that accounting explicitly for the behavioural processes, including the detectability of infected individuals, leads to novel dynamics that are strongly dependent on the nature of the costs and benefits of social interactions. As with physiological resistance, evolutionary dynamics of behavioural resistance can also lead to mixed strategies that balance these costs and benefits.
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Electronic supplementary material is available online at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5112767.
ISSN:1744-9561
1744-957X
DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2020.0508