Does biodiversity protect humans against infectious disease?
Open accessAbstract
Control of human infectious disease has been promoted as a valuable ecosystem service arising from the conservation of biodiversity. There are two commonly discussed mechanisms by which biodiversity loss could increase rates of infectious disease in a landscape. First, loss of competitors or predators could facilitate an increase in the abundance of competent reservoir hosts. Second, biodiversity loss could disproportionately affect non‐competent, or less competent reservoir hosts, which would otherwise interfere with pathogen transmission to human populations by, for example, wasting the bites of infected vectors. A negative association between biodiversity and disease risk, sometimes called the “dilution effect hypothesis,” has been supported for a few disease agents, suggests an exciting win–win outcome for the environment and society, and has become a pervasive topic in the disease ecology literature. Case studies have been assembled to argue that the dilution effect is general across disease agents. Less touted are examples in which elevated biodiversity does not affect or increases infectious disease risk for pathogens of public health concern. In order to assess the likely generality of the dilution effect, we review the association between biodiversity and public health across a broad variety of human disease agents. Overall, we hypothesize that conditions for the dilution effect are unlikely to be met for most important diseases of humans. Biodiversity probably has little net effect on most human infectious diseases but, when it does have an effect, observation and basic logic suggest that biodiversity will be more likely to increase than to decrease infectious disease risk.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Defaunation's effects on disease are not straightforward.
“However, the impacts of defaunation on disease are far from straightforward (71)”
From Defaunation in the Anthropocene (2014) · cites this paper as [71]
It appears that few major human pathogens meet the conditions for such a pervasive relationship.
“and few major human pathogens seem to fit the criteria that would make such a relationship pervasive (71).”
From Defaunation in the Anthropocene (2014) · cites this paper as [71]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity
Cardinale, B. J., Duffy, J. E., Gonzalez, A., Hooper, D. U., Perrings, C., Venail, P., Narwani, A., Mace, G. M., Tilman, D., Wardle, D. A., et al. (2012) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11148 · Cited by 7,457 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This is a perspective that is increasingly embraced by ecologists (e.g., Begon 2008, Cardinale et al. 2012, Randolph and Dobson 2012, Salkeld et al. 2013, Young et al. 2013).”
BackgroundRisk factors for human disease emergence
Taylor, L. H., Latham, S. M., & woolhouse, M. E. J. (2001) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2001.0888 · Cited by 2,835 · see citing works
Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-Like Coronaviruses
Li, W., Shi, Z., Yu, M., Ren, W., Smith, C. S., Epstein, J. H., Wang, H., Crameri, G. S., Hú, Z., Zhang, H., et al. (2005) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1118391 · Cited by 2,571 · see citing works
Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases
Keesing, F., Belden, L. K., Daszak, P., Dobson, A., Harvell, C. D., Holt, R. D., Hudson, P., Jolles, A., Jones, K. E., Mitchell, C. E., et al. (2010) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature09575 · Cited by 2,043 · see citing works
Self-citationEffects of species diversity on disease risk
Keesing, F., Holt, R. D., & Ostfeld, R. S. (2006) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00885.x · Cited by 1,563 · see citing works
AIDS as a Zoonosis: Scientific and Public Health Implications
Hahn, B. H., Shaw, G. M., De, K. M., Cock, & Sharp, P. M. (2000) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.287.5453.607 · Cited by 1,234 · see citing works
LoGiudice, K. M., Ostfeld, R. S., Schmidt, K. A., & Keesing, F. (2003) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0233733100 · Cited by 1,160 · see citing works
The increase in risk factors for leishmaniasis worldwide
Desjeux, P. M. P. (2001) · Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.1016/s0035-9203(01)90223-8 · Cited by 1,048 · see citing works
Is a healthy ecosystem one that is rich in parasites?
Hudson, P. J., Dobson, A. P., & Lafferty, K. D. (2006) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2006.04.007 · Cited by 989 · see citing works
Self-citationSpecies diversity: from global decreases to local increases
Sax, D. F., & Gaines, S. D. (2003) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/s0169-5347(03)00224-6 · Cited by 860 · see citing works
Parasitism. The ecology and evolution of intimate interactions
Sangster, N. C. (2002) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.10105 · Cited by 800 · see citing works
Biodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect
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., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1506279112 · Cited by 758 · see citing works
Parasitism: The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions
Combes, C., de Buron, I., & Connors, V. A. (2001) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 718 · see citing works
Ecology Drives the Worldwide Distribution of Human Diseases
Guernier, V., Hochberg, M. E., & Guégan, J.-F. (2004) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020141 · Cited by 693 · see citing works
Epidemic Dynamics at the Human-Animal Interface
Lloyd‐Smith, J. O., George, D. B., Pepin, K. M., Pitzer, V. E., Pulliam, J. R. C., Dobson, A. P., Hudson, P. J., & Grenfell, B. T. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1177345 · Cited by 688 · see citing works
Self-citationEffect of Forest Fragmentation on Lyme Disease Risk
Allan, B. F., Keesing, F., & Ostfeld, R. S. (2003) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2003.01260.x · Cited by 653 · see citing works
The Biological and Social Phenomenon of Lyme Disease
Barbour, A. G., & Fish, D. (1993) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.8503006 · Cited by 638 · see citing works
Bushmeat Hunting, Deforestation, and Prediction of Zoonotic Disease
WOLFE, N. D., Daszak, P., Kilpatrick, A. M., & Burke, D. S. (2005) · Emerging infectious diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1112.040789 · Cited by 632 · see citing works
The leishmaniases as emerging and reemerging zoonoses
Ashford, R. W. (2000) · International Journal for Parasitology · doi:10.1016/s0020-7519(00)00136-3 · Cited by 583 · see citing works
BIODIVERSITY AND THE DILUTION EFFECT IN DISEASE ECOLOGY
Schmidt, K. A., & Ostfeld, R. S. (2001) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2001)082[0609:batdei]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 580 · see citing works
Effects of Host Diversity on Infectious Disease
Ostfeld, R. S., & Keesing, F. (2012) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102710-145022 · Cited by 528 · see citing works
The sixth mass coextinction: are most endangered species parasites and mutualists?
Dunn, R. R., Harris, N. C., Colwell, R. K., Koh, L. P., & Sodhi, N. S. (2009) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.0413 · Cited by 509 · see citing works
Should we expect population thresholds for wildlife disease?
Lloyd‐Smith, J. O., Cross, P. C., Briggs, C. J., Daugherty, M., Getz, W. M., Latto, J., Sanchez, M. S., Smith, A. B., & Swei, A. (2005) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.07.004 · Cited by 485 · see citing works
Biodiversity series: The function of biodiversity in the ecology of vector-borne zoonotic diseases
Ostfeld, R. S., & Keesing, F. (2000) · Canadian Journal of Zoology · doi:10.1139/z00-172 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
Globalization, Land Use, and the Invasion of West Nile Virus
Kilpatrick, A. M. (2011) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1201010 · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Naturally acquired simian retrovirus infections in central African hunters
WOLFE, N. D., Switzer, W. M., Carr, J. K., Bhullar, V. B., Shanmugam, V., Tamoufé, U., Prosser, A. T., Torimiro, J. N. E., Wright, A. C., Mpoudi‐Ngolé, E., et al. (2004) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(04)15787-5 · Cited by 439 · see citing works
Keeping the herds healthy and alert: implications of predator control for infectious disease
Packer, C., Holt, R. D., Hudson, P. J., Lafferty, K. D., & Dobson, A. P. (2003) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00500.x · Cited by 433 · see citing works
Self-citationPangloss revisited: a critique of the dilution effect and the biodiversity-buffers-disease paradigm
Randolph, S., & Dobson, A. D. M. (2012) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182012000200 · Cited by 405 · see citing works
Human viruses: discovery and emergence
Woolhouse, M., Scott, F., Hudson, Z., Howey, R., & Chase-Topping, M. (2012) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0354 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Deforestation: effects on vector-borne disease
Walsh, J. F., Molyneux, D. H., & Birley, M. H. (1993) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182000086121 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
Ecological Origins of Novel Human Pathogens
Woolhouse, M. E. J., & Gaunt, E. R. (2007) · Critical Reviews in Microbiology · doi:10.1080/10408410701647560 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
Biodiversity decreases disease through predictable changes in host community competence
Johnson, P. T. J., Preston, D. L., Hoverman, J. T., & Richgels, K. L. D. (2013) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature11883 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
How should environmental stress affect the population dynamics of disease?
Lafferty, K. D., & Holt, R. D. (2003) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00480.x · Cited by 350 · see citing works
Self-citationDiversity, decoys and the dilution effect: how ecological communities affect disease risk
Johnson, P. T. J., & Thieltges, D. W. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.037721 · Cited by 349 · see citing works
IMPACT OF DEFORESTATION AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ON ANOPHELINE ECOLOGY AND MALARIA EPIDEMIOLOGY
YASUOKA, J., & LEVINS, R. (2007) · The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2007.76.450 · Cited by 323 · see citing works
Biodiversity and disease: a synthesis of ecological perspectives on Lyme disease transmission
Wood, C. L., & Lafferty, K. D. (2012) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2012.10.011 · Cited by 303 · see citing works
Self-citationSalkeld, D. J., Padgett, K. A., & Jones, J. H. (2013) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/ele.12101 · Cited by 289 · see citing works
Biodiversity Loss Affects Global Disease Ecology
Pongsiri, M. J., Roman, J., Ezenwa, V. O., Goldberg, T. L., Koren, H. S., Newbold, S. C., Ostfeld, R. S., Pattanayak, S. K., & Salkeld, D. J. (2009) · BioScience · doi:10.1525/bio.2009.59.11.6 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Coextinction and Persistence of Dependent Species in a Changing World
Colwell, R. K., Dunn, R. R., & Harris, N. C. (2012) · Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-110411-160304 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Johnson, P. T. J., Rohr, J. R., Hoverman, J. T., Kellermanns, E., Bowerman, J., & Lunde, K. B. (2012) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01730.x · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Wild Primate Populations in Emerging Infectious Disease Research: The Missing Link?
WOLFE, N. D., Escalante, A. A., Karesh, W. B., Kilbourn, A. M., Spielman, A., & Lal, A. A. (1998) · Emerging infectious diseases · doi:10.3201/eid0402.980202 · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Experimental Evidence for Reduced Rodent Diversity Causing Increased Hantavirus Prevalence
Suzán, G., Marcé, E., Giermakowski, J. T., Mills, J. N., Ceballos, G., Ostfeld, R. S., Armién, B., Pascale, J. M., & Yates, T. L. (2009) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005461 · Cited by 256 · see citing works
Forest fragmentation predicts local scale heterogeneity of Lyme disease risk
Brownstein, J. S., Skelly, D. K., Holford, T. R., & Fish, D. (2005) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0251-9 · Cited by 254 · see citing works
The American leishmaniases: some observations on their ecology and epidemiology
Lainson, R. (1983) · Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.1016/0035-9203(83)90185-2 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
COMMUNITY DISASSEMBLY, BIODIVERSITY LOSS, AND THE EROSION OF AN ECOSYSTEM SERVICE
Ostfeld, R. S., & LoGiudice, K. M. (2003) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/02-3125 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Lyme borreliosis: biology, epidemiology and control
Gray, J. (2002) · CABI Publishing eBooks · doi:10.1079/9780851996325.0000 · Cited by 251 · see citing works
Swaddle, J., & Calos, S. (2008) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002488 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
New directions in conservation medicine: applied cases of ecological health
(2013) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.50-3886 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
Norman, R., Bowers, R., Begon, M. E., & Hudson, P. J. (1999) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1006/jtbi.1999.0982 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Self-citationSokolow, S. H., Huttinger, E., Jouanard, N., Hsieh, M. H., Lafferty, K. D., Kuris, A. M., Riveau, G. J., Senghor, S., Thiam, C., Ndiaye, A., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1502651112 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
Self-citationWood, J. L. N., Leach, M., Waldman, L., MacGregor, H., Fooks, A. R., Jones, K. E., Restif, O., Dechmann, D. K. N., Hayman, D. T. S., Baker, K. S., et al. (2012) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0228 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Global Mapping of Ecosystem Disservices: The Unspoken Reality that Nature Sometimes Kills us
Dunn, R. R. (2010) · Biotropica · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2010.00698.x · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Stage structure alters how complexity affects stability of ecological networks
Rudolf, V. H. W., & Lafferty, K. D. (2010) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01558.x · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Self-citationBiodiversity loss decreases parasite diversity: theory and patterns
Lafferty, K. D. (2012) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2012.0110 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
Self-citationSacred Cows and Sympathetic Squirrels: The Importance of Biological Diversity to Human Health
Dobson, A. P., Cattadori, I. M., Holt, R. D., Ostfeld, R. S., Keesing, F., Krichbaum, K., Rohr, J. R., Perkins, S. E., & Hudson, P. J. (2006) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030231 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Self-citationParasitic diseases and urban development.
Mott, K. E., Desjeux, P. M. P., Moncayo, A. L., Ranque, P., & de Raadt, P. (1990) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 137 · see citing works
LOCALIZED DEER ABSENCE LEADS TO TICK AMPLIFICATION
Perkins, S. E., Cattadori, I. M., Tagliapietra, V., Rizzoli, A. P., & Hudson, P. J. (2006) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1981:ldaltt]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Self-citationPublic health impacts of ecosystem change in the Brazilian Amazon
Bauch, S. C., Birkenbach, A. M., Pattanayak, S. K., & Sills, E. O. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1406495111 · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Does habitat disturbance increase infectious disease risk for primates?
Young, H. S., Griffin, R. H., Wood, C. L., & Nunn, C. L. (2013) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/ele.12094 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Self-citationLinking community and disease ecology: the impact of biodiversity on pathogen transmission
Roche, B., Dobson, A. P., Guégan, J., & Rohani, P. (2012) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0364 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Zeitz, P. S., Butler, J. C., Cheek, J. E., Samuel, M., Childs, J. E., Shands, L. A., Turner, R. E., Voorhees, R. E., Sarisky, J., Rollin, P. E., et al. (1995) · The Journal of Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1093/infdis/171.4.864 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Lyme Disease: The Ecology of a Complex System
Ostfeld, R. S. (2010) · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Impact of the experimental removal of lizards on Lyme disease risk
Swei, A., Ostfeld, R. S., Lane, R. S., & Briggs, C. J. (2011) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2402 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Rosà, R., Pugliese, A., Norman, R., & Hudson, P. J. (2003) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1016/s0022-5193(03)00173-5 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Self-citationSin Nombre Virus and Rodent Species Diversity: A Test of the Dilution and Amplification Hypotheses
Clay, C. A., Lehmer, E. M., Jeor, S. S., & Dearing, M. D. (2009) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0006467 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Lyme Disease: The Ecology of a Complex System
Diuk‐Wasser, M. A. (2012) · Journal of Wildlife Diseases · doi:10.7589/0090-3558-48.2.534 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF LEUKOCYTE COUNTS AND DISEASE RISK IN PRIMATES
Nunn, C. L. (2002) · Evolution · doi:10.1111/j.0014-3820.2002.tb00859.x · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Ecological interactions in the transmission of the leishmaniases
Lainson, R. (1988) · Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1988.0099 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Clay, C. A., Lehmer, E. M., Jeor, S. S., & Dearing, M. D. (2009) · EcoHealth · doi:10.1007/s10393-009-0240-2 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Community Structure and the Interplay between Interspecific Infection and Competition
Bowers, R., & Turner, J. (1997) · Journal of Theoretical Biology · doi:10.1006/jtbi.1997.0418 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Laurenson, M. K., Norman, R., Gilbert, L., Reid, H. W., & Hudson, P. J. (2003) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2656.2003.00688.x · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationEffects of host diversity on disease dynamics.
Begon, M. E., Ostfeld, R. S., Keesing, F., & Eviner, V. T. (2008) · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Conservation Efforts May Increase Malaria Burden in the Brazilian Amazon
do Valle, D. R., & Clark, J. S. (2013) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0057519 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Oliveira-Neto, M. P., Pirmez, C., Rangel, E. F., Schubach, A. D. O., & Grimaldi, G. (1988) · Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · doi:10.1590/s0074-02761988000400006 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Context‐dependent effects of large‐wildlife declines on small‐mammal communities in central Kenya
Young, H. S., McCauley, D. J., Dirzo, R., Goheen, J. R., Agwanda, B. R., Brook, C. E., Otárola‐Castillo, E., Ferguson, A. W., Kinyua, S. N., McDonough, M. M., et al. (2015) · Ecological Applications · doi:10.1890/14-0995.1 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Self-citationPrevalences of Loa loa microfilaraemia throughout the area endemic for the infection
Gardon, J. (1997) · Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology · doi:10.1080/00034989760671 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Marrelli, M. T., Malafronte, R. S., Sallum, M. A. M., & Natal, D. (2007) · Malaria Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2875-6-127 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Raybould, J. N., & Gb, W. (1979) · PubMed · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Species diversity reduces parasite infection through cross‐generational effects on host abundance
Johnson, P. T. J., Preston, D. L., Hoverman, J. T., Henderson, J. S., Paull, S. H., Richgels, K. L. D., & Redmond, M. D. (2012) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/11-0636.1 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Environmental management for Lyme borreliosis control.
Stafford, K. C., & Kitron, U. (2002) · CABI Publishing eBooks · doi:10.1079/9780851996325.0301 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Impact of forest size on parasite biodiversity: implications for conservation of hosts and parasites
Bush, S. E., Reed, M., & Maher, S. P. (2013) · Biodiversity and Conservation · doi:10.1007/s10531-013-0480-x · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Leishmaniasis in Manaus, Brazil
BARRETT, T. V., & Senra, M. S. (1989) · Parasitology Today · doi:10.1016/0169-4758(89)90258-5 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-2537 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
How Does Biodiversity Influence the Ecology of Infectious Disease?
Vourc’h, G., Plantard, O., & Morand, S. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-007-2114-2_13 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Gadelha, P. E. F. (1994) · PubMed · Cited by 31 · see citing works
The Global Burden of Human Parasites: Who and Where are They? How are They Transmitted?
Kuris, A. (2012) · Journal of Parasitology · doi:10.1645/12-90.1 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citation[Evaluation of a cutaneous leishmaniasis control program in a forest village of French Guyana].
Esterre, P., Chippaux, J., Lefait, J. F., & Dedet, J.-P. (1986) · Europe PMC (PubMed Central) · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Chelbi, I., Kâabi, B., Derbali, M., Ahmed, S. B. H., Dellagi, K., & Zhioua, E. (2008) · Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases · doi:10.1089/vbz.2007.0265 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Studies on the epidemiology of subperiodic "Brugia malayi" in Malaysia : problems in its control
Mak, J. W., Cheong, W. H., & Yen, P. K. F. (1982) · PubMed · doi:10.5169/seals-312981 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ashford, R. W., & Crewe, W. (2003) · doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61568 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Sharma, A., & Kondrashin, A. V. (1991) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Muro, A. I. S., & Mziray, N. (1990) · PubMed · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Chang, M.-S., Ho, B. C., & Chan, K. L. (1991) · PubMed · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Change and the transmission of onchocerciasis.
Raybould, J. N. (1968) · PubMed · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Prevalences of Loa loa microfilaraemia throughout the area endemic for the infection
Boussinesq, M., & Gardon, J. (1997) · Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology · doi:10.1080/00034983.1997.11813176
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Esterre, P., J. P. Chippaux, J. F. Lefait, and J. P. Dedet. 1986. Evaluation d'un programme de lutte contre la leishmaniose cutanee dans un village forestier de Guyane franqaise. Bulletin de l'Organization Mondiale de la Sante 64:559-565.
- Llanos-Cuentas, A., and M. Campos. 1987. Identification and quantification of risk factors associated with New World cutaneous leishmaniasis. Pages 252-260 in B. C. Walton, P. Wijeyaratne, and R. Modabber, editors. Research on control strategies for the leishmaniases: Proceedings of an Interna- tional Workshop held in Ottawa, Canada, 1-4 June 1987. International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Can- ada.
- Young, H. S., R. H. Griffin, C. L. Wood, and C. L. Nunn. 2013. Does habitat disturbance increase infectious disease risk for primates? Ecology Letters 16:656-663.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Defaunation in the Anthropocene
Dirzo, R., Young, H. S., Galetti, M., Ceballos, G., Isaac, N. J. B., & Collen, B. (2014) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1251817 · Cited by 4,305 · see citing works
Self-citationSandifer, P. A., Sutton‐Grier, A. E., & Ward, B. (2015) · Ecosystem Services · doi:10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.12.007 · Cited by 1,183 · see citing works
Urbanization and Disease Emergence: Dynamics at the Wildlife–Livestock–Human Interface
Hassell, J. M., Begon, M. E., Ward, M. J., & Fèvre, E. M. (2016) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.09.012 · Cited by 815 · see citing works
“However, the epidemiological consequences of changes to such a system are likely to be pathogen specific, and dependent on how trophic reassortment affects the following parameters: likelihood of encounter and transmission between competent hosts, host abundance and/ or density, and infected host mortality and recover…”
BackgroundBiodiversity inhibits parasites: Broad evidence for the dilution effect
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., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1506279112 · Cited by 758 · see citing works
“However, if parasites are unaffected or even stimulated by host biodiversity, then human-mediated biodiversity loss might decrease the risk of outbreaks, and disease management approaches based on biodiversity could backfire (13).”
BackgroundInfluentialImpacts of biodiversity and biodiversity loss on zoonotic diseases
Keesing, F., & Ostfeld, R. S. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2023540118 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Phylogenetic structure and host abundance drive disease pressure in communities
Parker, I. M., Saunders, M. A., Bontrager, M., Weitz, A. P., Hendricks, R., Magarey, R. D., Suiter, K. A., & Gilbert, G. S. (2015) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature14372 · Cited by 368 · see citing works
The functional roles of mammals in ecosystems
Lacher, T. E., Davidson, A. D., Fleming, T. H., Gómez‐Ruiz, E., McCracken, G. F., Owen‐Smith, N., Peres, C. A., & Wall, S. B. V. (2019) · Journal of Mammalogy · doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyy183 · Cited by 367 · see citing works
Climate change, biodiversity, ticks and tick-borne diseases: The butterfly effect
Dantas‐Torres, F. (2015) · International Journal for Parasitology Parasites and Wildlife · doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2015.07.001 · Cited by 332 · see citing works
“…has been considerable debate on the biodiversity-buffers-disease paradigm (Randolph and Dobson, 2012, 2013; Ostfeld, 2013; Salkeld et al., 2013; Wood et al., 2014), recent studies assessing the effects of host diversity on Lyme disease risk or incidence at both small and large scales have…”
BackgroundGlobal change, parasite transmission and disease control: lessons from ecology
Cable, J., Barber, I., Boag, B., Ellison, A., Morgan, E. R., Murray, K. A., Pascoe, E. L., Sait, S. M., Wilson, A. J., & Booth, M. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0088 · Cited by 326 · see citing works
“In many cases, community composition including relative abundance, rather than biodiversity loss, is a greater predictor of disease risk dilution [122–125].”
BackgroundTowards common ground in the biodiversity–disease debate
Rohr, J. R., Civitello, D. J., Halliday, F. W., Hudson, P. J., Lafferty, K. D., Wood, C. L., & Mordecai, E. A. (2019) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-019-1060-6 · Cited by 270 · see citing works
Self-citationInfectious Diseases and Meat Production
Espinosa, R., TagoPacheco, D., & Treich, N. (2020) · Environmental and Resource Economics · doi:10.1007/s10640-020-00484-3 · Cited by 278 · see citing works
Ogden, N. H., Beard, C. B., Ginsberg, H. S., & Tsao, J. I. (2020) · Journal of Medical Entomology · doi:10.1093/jme/tjaa220 · Cited by 252 · see citing works
Collapse of Amphibian Communities Due to an Introduced Ranavirus
Price, S. J., Garner, T. W. J., Nichols, R. A., Balloux, F., Ayres, C., de Alba, A. M. C., & Bosch, J. (2014) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.09.028 · Cited by 250 · see citing works
Recent loss of closed forests is associated with Ebola virus disease outbreaks
Olivero, J., Fa, J. E., Real, R., Márquez, A. L., Farfán, M. Á., Vargas, J. M., Gaveau, D., Salim, M., Park, D., Suter, J. D., et al. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14727-9 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Sokolow, S. H., Huttinger, E., Jouanard, N., Hsieh, M. H., Lafferty, K. D., Kuris, A. M., Riveau, G. J., Senghor, S., Thiam, C., Ndiaye, A., et al. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1502651112 · Cited by 219 · see citing works
“Biological conservation does not always benefit human health, but where it does, it provides a win-win outcome for humans and nature (35).”
BackgroundSelf-citationEffects of climate change on the occurrence and distribution of livestock diseases
Bett, B., Kiunga, P. N., Gachohi, J. M., Sindato, C., Mbotha, D., Robinson, T., Lindahl, J. F., & Grace, D. (2016) · Preventive Veterinary Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.11.019 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Introduced Species, Disease Ecology, and Biodiversity–Disease Relationships
Young, H. S., Parker, I. M., Gilbert, G. S., Guerra, A. S., & Nunn, C. L. (2016) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.09.008 · Cited by 211 · see citing works
Self-citationOne health – an ecological and evolutionary framework for tackling Neglected Zoonotic Diseases
Webster, J. P., Gower, C., Knowles, S. C. L., Molyneux, D. H., & Fenton, A. (2015) · Evolutionary Applications · doi:10.1111/eva.12341 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
“Although there is considerable debate about the generality of this phenomenon (Randolph and Dobson 2012; Wood et al.”
BackgroundInterconnecting global threats: climate change, biodiversity loss, and infectious diseases
Pfenning‐Butterworth, A. C., Buckley, L. B., Drake, J. M., Farner, J. E., Farrell, M. J., Gehman, A.-L. M., Mordecai, E. A., Stephens, P. R., Gittleman, J. L., & Davies, T. J. (2024) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(24)00021-4 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Conservation of biodiversity as a strategy for improving human health and well-being
Kilpatrick, A. M., Salkeld, D. J., Titcomb, G., & Hahn, M. B. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0131 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Cross-species pathogen spillover across ecosystem boundaries: mechanisms and theory
Borremans, B., Faust, C., Manlove, K. R., Sokolow, S. H., & Lloyd-Smith, J. O. (2019) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2018.0344 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Ecological interventions to prevent and manage zoonotic pathogen spillover
Sokolow, S. H., Nova, N., Pepin, K. M., Peel, A. J., Pulliam, J. R. C., Manlove, K. R., Cross, P. C., Becker, D. J., Plowright, R. K., McCallum, H. I., et al. (2019) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2018.0342 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Declines in large wildlife increase landscape-level prevalence of rodent-borne disease in Africa
Young, H. S., Dirzo, R., Helgen, K. M., McCauley, D. J., Billeter, S. A., Kosoy, M. Y., Osikowicz, L. M., Salkeld, D. J., Young, T. P., & Dittmar, K. (2014) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1404958111 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationHuman infectious disease burdens decrease with urbanization but not with biodiversity
Wood, C. L., McInturff, A., Young, H. S., Kim, D., & Lafferty, K. D. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0122 · Cited by 143 · see citing works
Self-citationValero, N. N. H., & Uriarte, M. (2020) · Parasitology Research · doi:10.1007/s00436-019-06575-5 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Luis, A. D., Kuenzi, A. J., & Mills, J. N. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1807106115 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Warming and fertilization alter the dilution effect of host diversity on disease severity
Liu, X., Lyu, S., Zhou, S., & Bradshaw, C. J. A. (2016) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/15-1784.1 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Schmid‐Hempel, P. (2021) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198832140.001.0001 · Cited by 130 · see citing works
Ecosystem Services from Tropical Forests: Review of Current SciencePreprint
Brandon, K. E. (2014) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2622749 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
“This ‘‘dilution effect hypothesis’’ has found significant support in field-based studies, but is still debated in the literature on disease (Myers et al. 2013; Wood et al. 2014).”
BackgroundThe rise and fall of infectious disease in a warmer world
Lafferty, K., & Mordecai, E. (2016) · F1000Research · doi:10.12688/f1000research.8766.1 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Importance and Benefits of Species
Gascon, C., Brooks, T. M., Contreras‐MacBeath, T., Heard, N., Konstant, W. R., Lamoreux, J. F., Launay, F. J. P., Maunder, M., Mittermeier, R. A., Molur, S., et al. (2015) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.03.041 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
“Although there are a number of examples of such dilution, some authors have argued that they are case-specific, and unlikely to be a major factor in human health overall [36].”
BackgroundGraystock, P., Ng, W.-H., Parks, K., Tripodi, A., Muñiz, P. A., Fersch, A. A., Myers, C., McFrederick, Q., & Mcart, S. (2020) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-020-1247-x · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Halliday, F. W., & Rohr, J. R. (2019) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13049-w · Cited by 110 · see citing works
The future of tropical forests under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Swamy, L., Drazen, E., Johnson, W. R., & Bukoski, J. J. (2017) · Journal of Sustainable Forestry · doi:10.1080/10549811.2017.1416477 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
“…Wood et al., 2014) by supporting predators that consume key disease vectors, by maintaining lower temperatures that slow vector life cycles, and by diluting the risk of human infection (also known as the “dilution effect hypothesis”) (Myers et al., 2013; Vittor et al., 2009; Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundFerraguti, M., la Puente, J. M., Bensch, S., Roiz, D., Ruiz, S., Viana, D. S., Soriguer, R. C., & Figuerola, J. (2018) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12805 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
“It is widely accepted that pathogen diversity is spatially correlated with host biodiversity (Lafferty, 2012; Wood et al., 2014), wherein an increase in host diversity may be linked with dilution or amplification of diseases (Huang, Yu, Van Langevelde, & De Boer, 2017; Ostfeld & Keesing, 2012;…”
Human-mediated impacts on biodiversity and the consequences for zoonotic disease spillover
Glidden, C. K., Nova, N., Kain, M. P., Lagerstrom, K. M., Skinner, E. B., Mandle, L., Sokolow, S. H., Plowright, R. K., Dirzo, R., Leo, G. A. D., et al. (2021) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.070 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
One Health: Addressing Global Challenges at the Nexus of Human, Animal, and Environmental Health
Mwangi, W., de Figueiredo, P., & Criscitiello, M. F. (2016) · PLoS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1005731 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Declining ecosystem health and the dilution effect
Khalil, H., Ecke, F., Evander, M., Magnusson, M., & Hörnfeldt, B. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep31314 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
The diversity–disease relationship: evidence for and criticisms of the dilution effect
Huang, Z. Y. X., van Langevelde, F., Estrada‐Peña, A., Suzán, G., & de Boer, W. F. (2016) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182016000536 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
“Thus, the abundance of infected vectors, an important indicator for human disease risk, could increase with increasing species diversity, even when infection prevalence in vectors decreases (Schmidt and Ostfeld, 2001; Randolph and Dobson, 2012; Wood and Lafferty, 2013; Wood et al. 2014).”
BackgroundInfluentialHosseini, P. R., Mills, J. N., Prieur‐Richard, A., Ezenwa, V. O., Bailly, X., Rizzoli, A. P., Suzán, G., Vittecoq, M., García‐Peña, G. E., Daszak, P., et al. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0129 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
“Alternatively, a series of large-scale analyses spanning multiple disease systems suggest that more diverse systems pose a greater hazard [8,13].”
Forests and emerging infectious diseases: unleashing the beast within
Guégan, J., Ayouba, A., Cappelle, J., & de Thoisy, B. (2020) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab8dd7 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
“The geographical scale is another important issue [67].”
BackgroundContrasting emergence of Lyme disease across ecosystems
Mysterud, A., Easterday, W. R., Stigum, V. M., Aas, A. B., Meisingset, E. L., & Viljugrein, H. (2016) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms11882 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
“Although this paradigm is widely supported across disease systems 19 , it is not universal 18 .”
Null expectations for disease dynamics in shrinking habitat: dilution or amplification?
Faust, C. L., Dobson, A. P., Gottdenker, N. L., Bloomfield, L. S. P., McCallum, H. I., Gillespie, T. R., Diuk‐Wasser, M. A., & Plowright, R. K. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0173 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Evolutionary emergence of infectious diseases in heterogeneous host populations
Chabas, H., Lion, S., Nicot, A., Meaden, S., van Houte, S., Moineau, S., Wahl, L. M., Westra, E. R., & Gandon, S. (2018) · PLoS Biology · doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2006738 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Success, failure and ambiguity of the dilution effect among competitors
Strauss, A. T., Civitello, D. J., Cáceres, C. E., & Hall, S. R. (2015) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/ele.12468 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Platto, S., Zhou, J., Wang, Y., Wang, H., & Carafoli, E. (2020) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2020.10.028 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
A framework for assessing the quality of green infrastructure in the built environment in the UK
Jerome, G., Sinnett, D., Burgess, S., Calvert, T., & Mortlock, R. (2019) · Urban forestry & urban greening · doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2019.04.001 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Towards a mechanistic understanding of competence: a missing link in diversity–disease research
Merrill, T. E. S., & Johnson, P. T. J. (2020) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182020000943 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
“Although the dilution effect offers a compelling direct connection between diversity and disease, the search for negative diversity–disease relationships has yielded varied findings, including strong support, contradictory evidence and sometimes non-linear relationships (Randolph and Dobson, 2012; Wood and Lafferty, 2…”
ResultThe Coevolution Effect as a Driver of Spillover
Zohdy, S., Schwartz, T. S., & Oaks, J. R. (2019) · Trends in Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.pt.2019.03.010 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
“This is the opposite of the dilution effect [52].”
BackgroundDilution of specialist pathogens drives productivity benefits from diversity in plant mixtures
Wang, G., Burrill, H. M., Podzikowski, L. Y., Eppinga, M. B., Zhang, F. S., Zhang, J., Schultz, P. A., & Bever, J. D. (2023) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-023-44253-4 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
“While the ecological importance of biodiversity diluting pathogens has been controversial given devas-tatingexamplesofpathogenspilloverbetweenanimalpopulations 38,39 , we fi nd strong support that the diversity of native plants reduce deleterious impacts of specialist pathogens on plant productivity.”
BackgroundEmergence of tick-borne diseases at northern latitudes in Europe: a comparative approach
Mysterud, A., Jore, S., Østerås, O., & Viljugrein, H. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15742-6 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Defuse the dilution effect debate
Halsey, S. (2018) · Nature Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0764-3 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Pulse Heat Stress and Parasitism in a Warming World
Claar, D. C., & Wood, C. L. (2020) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.04.002 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Self-citationIs biodiversity good for your health?
Keesing, F., & Ostfeld, R. S. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aac7892 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Parasites and wildlife in a changing world: The vector-host- pathogen interaction as a learning case
Rizzoli, A. P., Tagliapietra, V., Cagnacci, F., Marini, G., Arnoldi, D., Rosso, F., & Rosà, R. (2019) · International Journal for Parasitology Parasites and Wildlife · doi:10.1016/j.ijppaw.2019.05.011 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Does deforestation increase malaria prevalence? Evidence from satellite data and health surveys
Bauhoff, S., & Busch, J. (2019) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104734 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“Relative to forests, cleared lands also have fewer insectivores, more species competing for ecological niche, and arguably fewer “dead-end hosts” to dilute malaria (LaPorta et al., 2013, Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundTurney, S., Gonzalez, A., & Millien, V. (2014) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/14-0980.1 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
“An alternative hypothesis, the amplification effect, states that Lyme disease risk increases with biodiversity (Keesing et al. 2006); a mechanism that may also affect risk for other human infectious disease (Wood et al. 2014).”
BackgroundLand-Use Change Alters Host and Vector Communities and May Elevate Disease Risk
Guo, F., Bonebrake, T. C., & Gibson, L. (2018) · EcoHealth · doi:10.1007/s10393-018-1336-3 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“As synthesized in recent review papers (e.g., Wood et al. 2014; Johnson et al. 2015), the dilution effect can operate either through transmission interference (i.e., incompetent hosts serve to ‘‘distract’’ vectors/pathogens away from the most competent hosts and hence reduce encounter probability)…”
BackgroundReview: Animal health and sustainable global livestock systems
Perry, B. D., Robinson, T. P., & Grace, D. (2018) · animal · doi:10.1017/s1751731118000630 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
A three-way perspective of stoichiometric changes on host–parasite interactions
Aalto, S. L., Decaestecker, E., & Pulkkinen, K. (2015) · Trends in Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.pt.2015.04.005 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Effects of Land Use on Plague (Yersinia pestis) Activity in Rodents in Tanzania
McCauley, D. J., Salkeld, D. J., Young, H. S., Makundi, R. H., Dirzo, R., Eckerlin, R. P., Lambin, É. F., Gaffikin, L., Barry, M., & Helgen, K. M. (2015) · American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · doi:10.4269/ajtmh.14-0504 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationPurse, B. V., Masante, D., Golding, N., Pigott, D. M., Day, J. C., Ibáñez‐Bernal, S., Kolb, M., & Jones, L. (2017) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0183583 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
“This finding initially seems consistent with the prediction of Wood et al. (2014) that New World cutaneous leishmaniases should respond positively to biodiversity.”
ResultCodeço, C. T., Dal’Asta, A. P., Rorato, A. C., Lana, R. M., Neves, T. C., de Andreazzi, C. S., Barbosa, M., Escada, M. I. S., Fernandes, D. A., Rodrigues, D. L., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.647754 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
“These metrics may correlate with the potential products and services provided by biodiversity, such as decreased or increased risks of disease (34).”
BackgroundHuang, C.-I., Kay, S. C., Davis, S., Tufts, D. M., Gaffett, K., Tefft, B., & Diuk‐Wasser, M. A. (2018) · Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.10.013 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
De-urbanization and Zoonotic Disease Risk
Eskew, E. A., & Olival, K. J. (2018) · EcoHealth · doi:10.1007/s10393-018-1359-9 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
“For instance, given potential changes in host community composition as abandoned urban lands undergo succession, these habitats could provide data relevant to the widespread debate on the biodiversity-disease dilution effect, which posits a negative relationship between host community species diversity and human disea…”
Hendy, A., Hernández-Acosta, E., Chaves, B. A., Fé, N. F., Valério, D., Mendonça, C. R., Lacerda, M., Buenemann, M., Vasilakis, N., & Hanley, K. A. (2020) · Acta Tropica · doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2020.105441 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Chavy, A., Nava, A. F. D., Luz, S. L. B., Ramírez, J. D., Herrera, G., dos Santos, T. V., Ginouvès, M., Demar, M., Prévot, G., Guégan, J., et al. (2019) · PLoS neglected tropical diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007629 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Abandonment, Ecological Assembly and Public Health Risks in Counter-Urbanizing Cities
Gulachenski, A., Ghersi, B., Lesen, A. E., & Blum, M. (2016) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su8050491 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“Due to the potential complexity of these systems, individual relationships between vector(s) and host(s) become crucial to predicting outcomes [146], therefore diversity measures alone may not predict disease transmission as accurately as other measures of community composition in counter-urbanizing cities [100,147].”
BackgroundParasites as conservation tools
Gagne, R. B., Crooks, K. R., Craft, M. E., Chiu, E. S., Fountain‐Jones, N. M., Malmberg, J. L., Carver, S., Funk, W. C., & VandeWoude, S. (2021) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/cobi.13719 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
“There is extensive debate regarding connections between biodiversity and parasite diversity or disease severity (e.g., Lyme disease) (Lafferty & Wood, 2013; Ostfeld & Keesing, 2000; Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundDumonteil, E., Pronovost, H., Bierman, E. F., Sanford, A. C., Majeau, A., Moore, R., & Herrera, C. P. (2020) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.15582 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
“…loss leads to increased (amplification effect) or decreased (dilution effect) pathogen transmission or whether responses are specific to the pathogens and/or environment being considered (Civitello et al., 2015; Johnson, Calhoun, Riepe, McDevitt-Galles, & Koprivnikar, 2019; Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundHost density increases parasite recruitment but decreases host risk in a snail–trematode system
Buck, J. C., Hechinger, R. F., Wood, A. C., Merrill, T. E. S., Kuris, A. M., & Lafferty, K. D. (2017) · Ecology · doi:10.1002/ecy.1905 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
“Examining a the list of 69 common human parasites with substantial pathogenicity (Kuris 2012, Wood et al. 2014) reveals that over 60% might be subject to infective-stage depletion at local scales (including vectored parasites and those with passive or active searching stages).”
BackgroundSelf-citationFearon, M. L., & Tibbetts, E. A. (2021) · Ecology · doi:10.1002/ecy.3305 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Trypanosoma cruzi transmission dynamics in a synanthropic and domesticated host community
Flores‐Ferrer, A., Waleckx, E., Rascalou, G., Dumonteil, E., & Gourbière, S. (2019) · PLoS neglected tropical diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0007902 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications
Young, H. S., Wood, C. L., Kilpatrick, A. M., Lafferty, K. D., Nunn, C. L., & Vincent, J. R. (2017) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2016.0124 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationSokolow, S. H., Nova, N., Jones, I. J., Wood, C. L., Lafferty, K. D., Garchitorena, A., Hopkins, S. R., Lund, A. J., MacDonald, A. J., LeBoa, C., et al. (2022) · The Lancet Planetary Health · doi:10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00248-0 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
“26 Our results support previous theoretical, 27–29 empirical, 16 and meta-analytic 30 studies that have found variable effects of land-use and biodiversity on human infectious disease.”
ResultSelf-citationCortez, M. H., & Duffy, M. A. (2021) · The American Naturalist · doi:10.1086/715110 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Kocher, A., Cornuault, J., Gantier, J.-C., Manzi, S., Chavy, A., Girod, R., Dusfour, I., Forget, P., Ginouvès, M., Prévot, G., et al. (2022) · Molecular Ecology · doi:10.1111/mec.16341 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Does the dilution effect generally occur in animal diseases?
Huang, Z. Y. X., YU, Y., van Langevelde, F., & de Boer, W. F. (2017) · Parasitology · doi:10.1017/s0031182016002572 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Mysterud, A., Hatlegjerde, I., & Sørensen, O. J. (2014) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/preaccept-2690016861365288 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Young, H. S., Dirzo, R., McCauley, D. J., Agwanda, B. R., Cattaneo, L., Dittmar, K., Eckerlin, R. P., Fleischer, R. C., Helgen, L. E., Hintz, A., et al. (2015) · Journal of Parasitology · doi:10.1645/14-684.1 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Self-citationde Thoisy, B., Duron, O., Epelboin, L., Musset, L., Quénel, P., Roche, B., Binetruy, F., Briolant, S., Carvalho, L., Chavy, A., et al. (2021) · Infection Genetics and Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104916 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“This idea received much attention, but also triggered criticisms claiming that the biodiversity–disease relationship was idiosyncratic due to other mechanisms that could instead lead to amplification of disease transmission with increasing biodiversity (Randolph and Dobson, 2012; Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundIs restoring an ecosystem good for your health?
Speldewinde, P., Slaney, D., & Weinstein, P. (2014) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.09.028 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“It appears that the relationship between biodiversity and disease can be positive or negative and the relationship may not be simple or consistent (Wood et al., 2014).”
BackgroundFernández, D., Giné-Vázquez, I., Liu, I., Yucel, R. M., Ruscone, M. N., Morena, M., García, V. G., Haro, J. M., Pan, W., & Tyrovolas, S. (2020) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.116326 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“In that sense, several studies have suggested that the transmission of diseases increases with the loss of biodiversity (Keesing et al., 2010; Wood et al., 2014; Lacroix et al., 2014; Johnson et al., 2015).”
Parasite responses to large mammal loss in an African savanna
Weinstein, S. B., Titcomb, G., Agwanda, B. R., Riginos, C., & Young, H. S. (2017) · Ecology · doi:10.1002/ecy.1858 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“…with one of the few points of agreement being a need for more large-scale experimental studies examining mechanisms by which realistic patterns of biodiversity loss alter disease dynamics (Keesing et al. 2006, Gottdenker et al. 2014, Wood et al. 2014, Civitello et al. 2015, Johnson et al. 2015).”
BackgroundResultSelf-citationPeterson, J. K., Bartsch, S. M., Lee, B. Y., & Dobson, A. P. (2015) · Parasites & Vectors · doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1146-1 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“cruzi is considered as a parasite that responds negatively to biodiversity in undisturbed ‘wild’ systems [39], although it is unknown if this is the case in domestic transmission settings.”
BackgroundHuang, Z. Y. X., Xu, C., van Langevelde, F., Ma, Y., Langendoen, T., Mundkur, T., Si, Y., Tian, H., Kraus, R. H. S., Gilbert, M., et al. (2019) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12997 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“Despite much evidence for the dilution effect (Ostfeld & Keesing 2012; 106 Civitello et al. 2015; Huang et al. 2017), its generality is still highly disputed (Randolph 107 & Dobson 2012; Young et al. 2013; Wood et al. 2014; Huang et al. 2016).”
BackgroundPeng, P., Guo, X., Jin, D., Dong, W., Qian, T., Qin, F., Yang, Z.-H., & Fan, R. (2018) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189987 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Does biodiversity protect humans against infectious disease? Comment
Levi, T., Massey, A. L., Holt, R. D., Keesing, F., Ostfeld, R. S., & Peres, C. A. (2016) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/15-354.1 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
A field test of the dilution effect hypothesis in four avian multi-host pathogens
Ferraguti, M., la Puente, J. M., Jiménez‐Clavero, M. Á., Llorente, F., Roiz, D., Ruíz, S., Soriguer, R. C., & Figuerola, J. (2021) · PLoS Pathogens · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1009637 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
“However, theoretical models suggest that both negative (dilution) and positive (amplification) relationships between pathogen prevalence and biodiversity occur [8,9] and, indeed, both phenomena have been observed in wild populations.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Forests of the Congo Basin: State of the Forests 2021
Richard, E. A., Hiol, F. H., & Lescuyer, G. (2022) · Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) eBooks · doi:10.17528/cifor/008700 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Diagne, C. A., Galan, M., Tamisier, L., D’Ambrosio, J., Dalecky, A., Bâ, K., Kane, M. D., Niang, Y., Diallo, M., Sow, A., et al. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14880-1 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Crop protection practices and viral zoonotic risks within a One Health framework
Ratnadass, A., & Deguine, J. (2021) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145172 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Evolutionary and ecological insights into the emergence of arthropod-borne viruses
Marklewitz, M., & Junglen, S. (2018) · Acta Tropica · doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.10.006 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Stephens, C. R., González‐Salazar, C., Sánchez-Cordero, V. M., Becker, I., Rebollar-Téllez, E. A., Rodríguez‐Moreno, Á., Berzunza‐Cruz, M., Balcells, C. D., Gutiérrez‐Granados, G., Hidalgo‐Mihart, M. G., et al. (2016) · PLoS neglected tropical diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005004 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Chen, L., & Zhou, S. (2015) · The American Naturalist · doi:10.1086/683774 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Halsey, S. J., & Miller, J. R. (2018) · Ecological Modelling · doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.09.005 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Lose biodiversity, gain disease
McCallum, H. I. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1510607112 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Emerging challenges of infectious diseases as a feature of land systems
Vanwambeke, S., Linard, C., & Gilbert, M. (2019) · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2019.05.005 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change: Implications for Public Health
Cook, P. A., Howarth, M. L., & Wheater, C. P. (2019) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_11 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
The accelerated infectious disease risk in the Anthropocene: more outbreaks and wider global spreadPreprint
Morand, S., & Walther, B. A. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.04.20.049866 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“…presence of abundant biodiversity and healthy ecosystems has an overall positive effect on human well-being and health (Chivian and Bernstein, 2008; Wood et al., 2014; Sandifer et al., 2015; Walther et al., 2016; Morand and Lajaunie, 2017; McMahon et al., 2018) which should count as an additional…”
Background
- Authors
- Wood, C. L., Lafferty, K. D., DeLeo, G., Young, H. S., Hudson, P. J., & Kuris, A. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- Smithsonian Institution (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wood, Chelsea L.
- Venue
- Ecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2014-04
- Volume
- 95
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 817-832
- ISSN
- 0012-9658 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-9170
- OpenAlex
- W2043188267
- Cited by
- 268
- References
- 95
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 9
- FWCI
- 24.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Ecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (1115965)
- National Institutes of Health (OCE-1115965)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Parasite Biology and Host Interactions
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Keywords
- biodiversity, infectious disease risk, ecosystem services, reservoir hosts, vector competence, pathogen transmission, biodiversity loss, disease ecology
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Biological, Animals, Communicable Diseases, Disease Vectors, Humans, Zoonoses, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Biodiversity, Host-Pathogen Interactions
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
