Cited by 763Parasite Biology and Host InteractionsZoonotic diseases and public healthEcology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

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Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect

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Civitello, David J., Cohen, Jeremy, Fatima, Hiba, Halstead, Neal T., Liriano, Josue, McMahon, Taegan A., Ortega, C. Nicole, Sauer, Erin Louise, Sehgal, Tanya, Young, Suzanne, Rohr, Jason R.·2015·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI 10.1073/pnas.1506279112PMC PMC4507196

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Abstract

Significance: The dilution effect hypothesis suggests that diverse ecological communities limit disease spread via several mechanisms. Therefore, biodiversity losses could worsen epidemics that harm humans and wildlife. However, there is contentious debate over whether the hypothesis applies broadly, especially for parasites that infect humans. We address this fundamental question with a formal meta-analysis of >200 assessments relating biodiversity to disease in >60 host–parasite systems. We find overwhelming evidence of dilution, which is independent of host density, study design, and type and specialization of parasites. A second analysis identified similar effects of diversity in plant–herbivore systems. Thus, biodiversity generally decreases parasitism and herbivory. Consequently, human-induced declines in biodiversity could increase human and wildlife diseases and decrease crop and forest production.

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Background
Better Forests, Better Cities
Wilson, S. J., Juno, E., Pool, J.-R., Ray, S., Phillips, M., Francisco, S., & McCallum, S. (2022) · doi:10.46830/wrirpt.19.00013 · Cited by 12
Baited vaccines: A strategy to mitigate rodent‐borne viral zoonoses in humans
Mendoza, E. J., Warner, B. M., Kobinger, G., Ogden, N. H., & Safronetz, D. (2018) · Zoonoses and Public Health · doi:10.1111/zph.12487 · Cited by 10
Prevention and mitigation of epidemics: Biodiversity conservation and confinement policies
Augeraud‐Véron, E., Fabbri, G., & Schubert, K. (2021) · Journal of Mathematical Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jmateco.2021.102484 · Cited by 10
Association between predator species richness and human hantavirus infection emergence in Brazil
Min, K., Schneider, M. C., & Cho, S. (2020) · One Health · doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100196 · Cited by 12
Food web structure and functioning: Theoretical advances and outlook
Wang, S. (2020) · Biodiversity Science · doi:10.17520/biods.2020240 · Cited by 10
Using sensitivity analysis to identify factors promoting higher versus lower infection prevalence in multi-host communities
Cortez, M. H. (2021) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110766 · Cited by 10
Influences of habitat and arthropod density on parasitism in two co-occurring host taxa
Koprivnikar, J., Urichuk, T. M. Y., & Szuroczki, D. (2017) · Canadian Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1139/cjz-2016-0210 · Cited by 10
Forests and Emerging Infectious Diseases: Unleashing the Beast WithinPreprint
Guégan, J., Ayouba, A., Cappelle, J., & de Thoisy, B. (2020) · Preprints.org · doi:10.20944/preprints202004.0061.v1 · Cited by 10
Impact of black cherry on pedunculate oak vitality in mixed forests: Balancing benefits and concerns
Desie, E., Muys, B., den Ouden, J., Nyssen, B., Sousa‐Silva, R., van den Berg, L., van den Burg, A., van Duinen, G., Meerbeek, K. V., Weijters, M. J., et al. (2023) · Forest Ecosystems · doi:10.1016/j.fecs.2023.100148 · Cited by 11
Temporal dynamics of acoustic diversity in managed forests
Müller, S., Jahn, O., Jung, K., Mitesser, O., Ammer, C., Böhm, S. M., Ehbrecht, M., Farina, A., Renner, S. C., Pieretti, N., et al. (2024) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2024.1392882 · Cited by 9
The effects of tree diversity and neighborhood on phyllosphere fungal communities
Köhler, M., Hähn, G. J. A., Kanitz, M., Ferlian, O., Eisenhauer, N., Wubet, T., & Bruelheide, H. (2025) · Fungal ecology · doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2025.101440 · Cited by 9
Woody plant biodiversity explains arthropod pest management interventions in residential landscapes
Riley, C. B., Raupp, M. J., Fite, K. L., de la flor, Y. A. D., & Gardiner, M. M. (2021) · Urban forestry & urban greening · doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127439 · Cited by 9
A generalist nematode destabilises plant competition: no evidence for direct effects, but strong evidence for indirect effects on rhizobium abundance
Catella, S. A., Olmsted, C. F., Markalanda, S. H., McFadden, C. J., Wood, C. W., & Kuebbing, S. E. (2021) · New Phytologist · doi:10.1111/nph.17943 · Cited by 9
Biodiversity and Host–Parasite (Co)Extinction
van Dijk, J. P., & Baets, K. D. (2021) · Topics in geobiology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-52233-9_3 · Cited by 9
Bird community effects on avian malaria infections
Tamayo-Quintero, J., la Puente, J. M., San‐José, M., González‐Quevedo, C., & Rivera‐Gutiérrez, H. F. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-38660-2 · Cited by 9
Legume integration for biological control deserves a firmer scientific base
Wyckhuys, K. A. G., González-Chang, M., Lavandero, B. I., GC, Y., & Hadi, B. A. R. (2023) · Outlook on Agriculture · doi:10.1177/00307270231194086 · Cited by 11
Contrasting effects of sheep and cattle grazing on foliar fungal diseases by changing plant community characteristics
Li, T., Allan, E., Yang, S., Liu, Y., Inbar, M., Wang, D., & Zhong, Z. (2024) · Functional Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2435.14533 · Cited by 9
Biodiversity and Disease Transmission
Morand, S. (2018) · Advances in environmental microbiology · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92373-4_2 · Cited by 9
The ecological niche of Echinococcus multilocularis in North America: understanding biotic and abiotic determinants of parasite distribution with new records in New Mexico and Maryland, United States
Botero-Cañola, S., Dursahinhan, A. T., Rácz, S. E., Lowe, P. V., Ubelaker, J. E., & Gardner, S. L. (2019) · Therya · doi:10.12933/therya-19-749 · Cited by 9
Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. in wild rodents: using occupancy models to estimate drivers of occurrence and prevalence in native forest and exotic Pinus radiata plantations from Central Chile
Infante, J., Riquelme, M., Huerta, N., Oettinger, S., Fredes, F., Simonetti, J. A., & Rubio, A. V. (2022) · Acta Tropica · doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106635 · Cited by 9
Experimental evidence that host species composition alters host–pathogen dynamics in a ranavirus–amphibian assemblage
Snyder, P. W., Ramsay, C. T., Harjoe, C. C., Khazan, E. S., Briggs, C. J., Hoverman, J. T., Johnson, P. T. J., Preston, D. L., Rohr, J. R., & Blaustein, A. R. (2022) · Ecology · doi:10.1002/ecy.3885 · Cited by 8
Self-citation
Does body growth impair immune function in a large herbivore?
Cheynel, L., Douhard, F., Gilot‐Fromont, E., Rey, B., Débias, F., Pardonnet, S., Carbillet, J., Verheyden, H., Hewison, A. J. M., Pellerin, M., et al. (2018) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-018-4310-4 · Cited by 9
How intraguild predation affects the host diversity-disease relationship in a multihost community
Su, M., Yang, Y., & Hui, C. (2020) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110174 · Cited by 9
The typical cestodes of the red fox in eastern areas of the Iberian Peninsula have a grouped distribution
Sanchis-Monsonís, G., Fanelli, A., Martínez‐Carrasco, C., & Tizzani, P. (2020) · Veterinary Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2020.109168 · Cited by 9
Local Tree Diversity Suppresses Foliar Fungal Infestation and Decreases Morphological but Not Molecular Richness in a Young Subtropical Forest
Saadani, M., Hönig, L., Bien, S., Koehler, M., Rutten, G., Wubet, T., Braun, U., & Bruelheide, H. (2021) · Journal of Fungi · doi:10.3390/jof7030173 · Cited by 9
“The strong dependence of fungal richness and infestation on the proportion of the target tree in the local neighbourhood points to dilution effects as the main underlying mechanism of this diversity effect [32,92].”
Background
From drug discovery to coronaviruses: why restoring natural habitats is good for human health
Murage, P., Batalha, H. R., Lino, S., & Sterniczuk, K. (2021) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.n2329 · Cited by 9
Sick plants in grassland communities: a growth-defense trade-off is the main driver of fungal pathogen abundance and impactPreprint
Cappelli, S. L., Pichon, N. A., Kempel, A., & Allan, E. (2019) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/806299 · Cited by 9
“…has been shown to decrease with greater host diversity in grasslands through changes in plant abundances (e.g. Mitchell et al. 2002; Liu et al. 2016; Rottstock et al. 2014; but see Halliday et al. 2017), which reduces host-pathogen transmission (host dilution hypothesis) (Civitello et al. 2015).”
Background
Occurrence of Borrelia sp. among Wild Living Invasive and Native Mesocarnivores in Poland
Hildebrand, J., Jurczyk, K., Popiołek, M., Buńkowska‐Gawlik, K., & Perec‐Matysiak, A. (2022) · Animals · doi:10.3390/ani12202829 · Cited by 8
Projected impacts of climate change on ecosystem services provided by terrestrial mammals in Brazil
Tourinho, L., Manes, S., Pires, A. P. F., Nabout, J. C., Diniz‐Filho, J. A. F., Terribile, L. C., de Siqueira, M. F., Tessarolo, G., Lorini, M. L., de Menezes, M. A., et al. (2024) · Ecosystem Services · doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2024.101687 · Cited by 8
Towards an integrative mechanistic framework for biodiversity–consumer relationships
Halliday, F. W., Everingham, S. E., Bröcher, M., Ebeling, A., Kempel, A., Mundim, F. M., Strauss, A. T., Xirocostas, Z. A., & Kohli, M. (2025) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2025.03.005 · Cited by 8
Evaluation of habitat requirements of small rodents and effectiveness of an ecologically‐based management in a hantavirus‐endemic natural protected area in Argentina
Vadell, M. V., Erize, F., & Villafañe, I. E. G. (2016) · Integrative Zoology · doi:10.1111/1749-4877.12207 · Cited by 8
Virus Prevalence in Egg Samples Collected from Naturally Selected and Traditionally Managed Honey Bee Colonies across Europe
Boúúaert, D. C., Smet, L. D., Brunain, M., Dahle, B., Blacquière, T., Dalmon, A., Dezmirean, D. S., Elen, D., Filipi, J., Giurgiu, A.-I., et al. (2022) · Viruses · doi:10.3390/v14112442 · Cited by 8
A time with e-Natureza (e-Nature): a model of nature-based health interventions as a complex adaptive system
Leão, E. R., Hingst‐Zaher, E., Savieto, R. M., Patrício, K. P., de Oliveira, L. B., Catissi, G., Lima, L. M., Borba, G. B., Bomfim, S. B., & de Abreu, F. B. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1226197 · Cited by 11
“A meta-analysis of 61 experimental and observational studies found a strong overall negative correlation between biodiversity and disease risk (Civitello et al., 2015).”
Background
Stand biomass of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantations benefits from high density monocultures in the boreal zone
Chen, B., Liu, S., Yu, J., Huang, Y., Yu, S., Liu, H., Zhang, T., Liu, X., Jin, G., Chen, W., et al. (2024) · Forest Ecosystems · doi:10.1016/j.fecs.2024.100222 · Cited by 8
Local environment and sampling bias drive parasite prevalence estimates in freshwater fish communities
Vigneault, J., Binning, S. A., & Harvey, É. (2025) · Oikos · doi:10.1002/oik.11196 · Cited by 8
Émergence de maladies infectieuses
Morand, S., & Figuié, M. (2016) · Éditions Quæ eBooks · doi:10.35690/978-2-7592-2491-3 · Cited by 12
Assessing amphibian disease risk across tropical streams while accounting for imperfect pathogen detection
Ribeiro, J. W., Siqueira, T., DiRenzo, G. V., Lambertini, C., Lyra, M. L., Toledo, L. F., Haddad, C. F. B., & Becker, C. G. (2020) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-020-04646-4 · Cited by 7
‘Resistance Mixtures’ Reduce Insect Herbivory in Strawberry (Fragaria vesca) Plantations
Koski, T., de Jong, S., Muola, A., Amby, D. B., Andréasson, E., & Stenberg, J. A. (2021) · Frontiers in Plant Science · doi:10.3389/fpls.2021.722795 · Cited by 8
“This is because the increased heterogeneity of host plant populations should disrupt successful host location, increase the likelihood of leaving the food patch (Root, 1973; Thiéry and Visser, 1987; Peacock and Herrick, 2000; Duffy, 2002; Civitello et al., 2015; Field et al., 2020), and/or force herbivores to consume…”
Background
Linking Anthropogenic Landscape Perturbation to Herbivory and Pathogen Leaf Damage in Tropical Tree Communities
Pablo-Rodríguez, J. L., Bravo-Monzón, Á. E., Montiel-González, C., Benítez‐Malvido, J., Álvarez-Betancourt, S., Ramírez-Sánchez, O., Oyama, K., Arena-Ortiz, M. L., Álvarez-Añorve, M. Y., & Ávila-Cabadilla, L. D. (2023) · Plants · doi:10.3390/plants12223839 · Cited by 10
“…between susceptible and non-susceptible host species, where the latter can represent chemical and physical barriers disrupting olfactory recognition and colonisation of host species, consequently reducing the encounter rate between hosts and their specialised herbivore species [63,68,69].”
Background
Lizards and the enzootic cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato
Nowak, T. A., Burke, R. L., Diuk‐Wasser, M. A., & Lin, Y. (2024) · Molecular Microbiology · doi:10.1111/mmi.15271 · Cited by 8
“In fact, the dilution hypothesis has been proposed, suggesting that diverse host communities, including incompetent hosts, can reduce the prevalence of pathogens by interfering with the transmission process (Civitello et al., 2015; Johnson & Thieltges, 2010; Keesing et al., 2010) (Figure 1).”
Background
Emergence of infectious diseases
Morand, S., Figuié, M., Keck, F., Gilbert, C., Brender, N., Roger, F. L., & Zylberman, P. (2018) · Éditions Quæ eBooks · doi:10.35690/978-2-7592-2773-0 · Cited by 12
“However, two more recent meta-analyses conducted on a greater number of studies confirmed the statistical existence of a dilution effect (Civitello et al., 2015; Johnson et al., 2015).”
Result
Landscape structure affects temporal dynamics in the bumble bee virome: Landscape heterogeneity supports colony resilience
Bosco, L., Yañez, O., Schauer, A., Maurer, C., Cushman, S. A., Arlettaz, R., Jacot, A., Seuberlich, T., Neumann, P., & Schläppi, D. (2024) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174280 · Cited by 7

Authors: Civitello, D. J., Cohen, J., Fatima, H., Halstead, N. T., Liriano, J., McMahon, T. A., Ortega, C. N., Sauer, E. L., Sehgal, T., Young, S., & Rohr, J. R.
Affiliations: University of South Florida (US)
ORCID: Civitello, David J.
Cohen, Jeremy
Fatima, Hiba
Halstead, Neal T.
McMahon, Taegan A.
Sauer, Erin Louise
Rohr, Jason R.
Venue: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
Published: 2015-06-11
Volume: 112
Issue: 28
Pages: 8667-8671
ISSN: 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
1091-6490
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1506279112
PMC: PMC4507196
OpenAlex: W1787861744
Semantic Scholar: 30ae28188a18cd22709c7ef13c462acd9260a5ea
Cited by: 758
References: 34
Citations by year: 2026: 38 · 2025: 72 · 2024: 83 · 2023: 61 · 2022: 81 · 2021: 114 · 2020: 78 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 54 · 2017: 51 · 2016: 49 · 2015: 14
FWCI: 50.68
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: bronze
doi.org
Licence: www.pnas.org/site/misc/userlicense.xhtml (vor, 183 d)
Locations: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders: National Science Foundation (EF-1241889, 1144244)
HHS | National Institutes of Health (R01GM109499, F32AI112255)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (NRI 2006-01370, 2009-35102-0543)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (CAREER 83518801)
Topics: Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Zoonotic diseases and public health
Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
Keywords: dilution effect, biodiversity, parasite abundance, host diversity, zoonoses, disease risk, host-parasite interactions, plant-herbivore interactions, herbivory, biodiversity loss, human disease, wildlife disease
MeSH terms: Animals, Disease Susceptibility, Host-Parasite Interactions, Humans, Parasitic Diseases, Biodiversity

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Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect

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