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Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect
Open accessAbstract
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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“A rich literature on infectious diseases of wildlife, livestock, and plants demonstrates increased pathogen transmission when biodiversity is lost from some ecological communities (9, 53), supporting the generality of this relationship across nonzoonotic disease systems as well.”
From Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases (2021) · cites this paper as [9]
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“In contrast, biodiversity loss has been shown to often increase the risk of zoonotic diseases, for example, through the dilution effect (9).”
From Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases (2021) · cites this paper as [9]
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“But for decades, we have also known that under some conditions, high biological diversity can decrease the transmission of zoonotic diseases that have already become established (8, 9).”
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“However, a larger metaanalysis found that the dilution effect was as strong for zoonoses as for other types of diseases (9), a conclusion that was robust to criticisms from the authors of the earlier study (57, 58).”
From Impacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases (2021) · cites this paper as [9]
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DeMartini, E. E., Anderson, T. W., Carr, M. H., & Larson, R. J. (2025) · BioScience · doi:10.1093/biosci/biaf067 · Cited by 1
Here today, gone tomorrow: the effects of an invading host on a community of native symbionts
Massie, M. C., Brown, B. L., & Creed, R. P. (2025) · Biological Invasions · doi:10.1007/s10530-025-03656-8 · Cited by 1
“The mechanism underlying the effect of F. cris-tavarius appears to be a dilution effect (Keesing et al. 2006; Johnson and Thieltges 2010; Civitello et al. 2015).”
Bhat, R., Narayanan, P., Chanda, M. M., & Walsh, M. (2025) · One Health · doi:10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101278 · Cited by 1
“Several meta-analyses and synthesis studies have found widespread evidence for the dilution effect in both animal and plant systems [22 – 25] suggesting that this ecological phenomenon may be robust across multiple host-pathogen systems.”
van Engelen, B., Verheyen, L., Winkens, B., Plusquin, M., Malina, R. M., & van Schayck, O. C. P. (2025) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph22121805 · Cited by 1
“The biophilia hypothesis suggests that humans are naturally drawn to nature, benefiting their health [52–54], while the dilution effect hypothesis posits that biodiversity can reduce disease transmission [55–57].”
Deconstructing host quality offers insight into disease ecology
Mommer, L., Esser, H. J., van den Booren, S., Adelman, J. S., Bever, J. D., de Boer, W. F., Bron, G. M., Douma, J. C., Ezenwa, V. O., Halliday, F. W., et al. (2025) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2025.11.014 · Cited by 2
Podzikowski, L. Y., Burrill, H. M., Wang, G., Mecke, K. L., Hawkins, J. H., Wagner, M. R., Foster, B. L., Schultz, P. A., & Bever, J. D. (2025) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2518980122 · Cited by 1
O’Connor, C., Prusinski, M. A., Aldstadt, J., White, J., Wilson, A. M., Sommer, J., Falco, R. C., Kokas, J., Vinci, V. C., Gall, W. K., et al. (2026) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1093/jme/tjag070 · Cited by 1
Host–vector microbiome similarity predicts immune-mediated disturbance and vector competence
Cabezas‐Cruz, A., Piloto‐Sardiñas, E., & Obregón, D. (2026) · Trends in Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.pt.2026.05.010 · Cited by 1
Barbier, E., Franco, E. O., Wallau, G. L., Machado, R. Z., Barros‐Battesti, D. M., Bernard, E., & André, M. R. (2026) · Diversity · doi:10.3390/d18060341 · Cited by 1
Peterson, C., Gallo, E., Allen, M. S., & Kribs, C. M. (2026) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1093/jme/tjag125 · Cited by 1
Betancourt, M. E. D., & Alejandro, J. (2014) · instname:Universidad de los Andes · Cited by 1
RETRACTED: Biodiversity Loss with Habitat and Risk of New Diseases
Ram, D. (2021) · International Electronic Conference on Biological Diversity, Ecology and Evolution (BDEE) · doi:10.3390/bdee2021-09427 · Cited by 1
“To investigate division effects, we compared k identically shaped and scaled fragments for differing SAR values of z, while allowing total area to vary [14].”
MethodRetractedCommunity-Level Interactions and Disease Dynamics
McCoy, K. D. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198746249.003.0008 · Cited by 1
García-Feria, L. M. (2021) · ACTA ZOOLÓGICA MEXICANA (N S ) · doi:10.21829/azm.2021.3712385 · Cited by 1
The natural history of defences
Schmid‐Hempel, P. (2021) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198832140.003.0004 · Cited by 1
Liu, X., Lu, Y., Huang, M., & Zhou, S. (2022) · Annals of Botany · doi:10.1093/aob/mcac093 · Cited by 1
Forest diversity and productivity: Implications for forest health in future climates
Witzell, J., Romeralo, C., Aldea, J., & Löf, M. (2022) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-85042-1.00009-4 · Cited by 3
Biology of the Lymnaeidae–Parasite Interaction
Alba, A., & Gourbal, B. (2023) · Zoological monographs · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-30292-3_11 · Cited by 1
Fearon, M. L., Gowler, C. D., & Duffy, M. A. (2023) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-023-05486-8 · Cited by 1
“The dilution effect occurs in a variety of host–parasite systems (Civitello et al. 2015), but the question of whether greater biodiversity always dilutes the transmission of infectious disease has been the subject of intense debate (Halsey 2019).”
Patterns in parasite diversity and interactions with anurans from the Atlantic Forest
Euclydes, R., & Campião, K. M. (2024) · Parasitology International · doi:10.1016/j.parint.2024.102914 · Cited by 1
Tarekegn, Z. S., Eshetie, A., Mulat, G., Bazezew, M., Maru, M., Nigatu, S. D., Mekonnen, S. A., & Molla, W. A. (2024) · Veterinary Parasitology Regional Studies and Reports · doi:10.1016/j.vprsr.2024.101148 · Cited by 1
Examining pathogen avoidance in predator-prey and scavenging systems
Clapp, J. G., Malmberg, J. L., & Holbrook, J. D. (2024) · Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution · doi:10.3389/fevo.2024.1481290 · Cited by 1
“These behavioral shifts can cause a competitive release, increasing scavenger richness and potentially contributing to a ‘ dilution effect ’ where high consumer diversity correlates to reduced infection prevalence (Civitello et al., 2015; Khalil et al., 2016).”
Li, G., Wang, Y., Hautier, Y., Song, X., Zhou, Y., Zhang, M., & Wang, L. (2024) · CATENA · doi:10.1016/j.catena.2024.108558 · Cited by 1
“Human activity-induced loss of biodiversity is also an important global change factor that can have important effects on grassland ecosystem function (Civitello et al., 2015; Kohli et al., 2021; Pires et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2019b).”
Biodiversity Conservation, Ecosystem Services and One Health
McMahon, B. J., Caminade, C., Meneghi, D. D., Doyle, C., Garnier, J., Hitziger, M., Keune, H., Kock, R. A., Martin, C., Patterson, G. E., et al. (2024) · CABI eBooks · doi:10.1079/9781800623002.0008 · Cited by 1
A legacy of competitive exclusion: Host demography and amplified disease
Suh, D. C., Schroeder, K. M., Landolt, E. F., Tejada, J., & Strauss, A. T. (2025) · Integrative and Comparative Biology · doi:10.1093/icb/icaf035 · Cited by 1
Freedman, A. S., Levin, S. A., Felt, S. A., & Leo, G. A. D. (2026) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2025.2560 · Cited by 1
Metadata
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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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