Where Are the Parasites? [Letters]

• Main Authors: Kutz, Susan J., Dobson, Andy P., Hoberg, Eric P.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Parasitology; Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology; Zoology; Arctic; Climate change; Subarctic
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/797; https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/context/parasitologyfacpubs/article/1808/viewcontent/Hoberg_2009_SCIENCE_Where_Are_the_Parasites_letter_DC_ver.pdf

First paragraph: The review by E. Post et al. ("Ecological dynamics across the Arctic associated with recent climate change," 11 September 2009, p. 1,355) paid little heed to parasites and other pathogens. The rapidly growing literature on parasites in arctic and subarctic ecosystems provides empirical and observational evidence that climate-linked changes have already occurred. The life cycle of the protostrongylid lungworm of muskoxen, Umingmakstrongylus pallikuukensis, has changed, and the range of that organism and the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, has expanded.