Silent enemies: can low-virulence macroparasites drive disease-mediated invasions?

By

Romeo, Claudia
Fesce, Elisa
Wauters, Lucas A.
Santicchia, Francesca
Lurz, Peter W. W.
White, Andy
Ferrari, Nicola

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-8-7

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

100

Pages

191--206

Subjects

Alien species , Helminths , host-parasite dynamics , invasive species , Mathematical models , parasite-mediated competition , Sciurus carolinensis , Sciurus vulgaris

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.100.150832

 

Abstract

Shared pathogens can alter the interaction between native and alien species resulting in disease-mediated invasions (DMIs). Invasive animals often harbour low-virulence macroparasites, but empirical evidence for macroparasite-driven DMIs is still limited due to their subtile pathological impacts and scarce prominence. Here, we modelled the dynamics of native red squirrels, invasive grey squirrels and their shared nematode Strongyloides robustus to assess whether macroparasites can drive DMIs and lead to native species extinction. Our simulations showed that spill-over of the alien parasite can lead to red squirrel extinction, that grey squirrels can amplify the infection in the native host and that the infection can accelerate the replacement of red squirrels compared to direct competition alone, ultimately facilitating invasion by grey squirrels. These results show that low-virulence macroparasites can potentially mediate animal invasions, suggesting that we are overlooking key drivers of native species decline.