Parasites, eco-epidemiology, data analysis, integrated taxonomy, biodiversity measurement

Ecology
Epidemiology
Infectious Diseases
Molecular Biology
Parasitology
Public Health and Environmental Health
Veterinary science

Parasite communities are complex systems affected by biotic and abiotic factors. In the marine realm, the majority of parasites are trophic transmitted and exhibit a complex life cycle. Thus, investigating those parasite communities allows to obtain information on trophic network status and ecosystem health. Parasite communities of species in higher trophic levels, which have high structural importance within ecosystems, might well be included among biodiversity indicators of trophic network structure, status and health. Systematic parasite communities monitoring at various spatial and temporal scales, providing information on the trophic networks, can be used to explore biotic and abiotic factors affecting potential trophic/ecosystem alterations and evaluate implementation of management actions to mitigate anthropogenic drivers of those alterations (e.g. overfishing). Therefore, the project links parasitology and base knowledge of marine ecology to conservation biology and stakeholders engagement, encompassing potential partners such as fishermen and policy-makers.

biological tags, parasites, trophic network, helminths, seafood safety, data analysis, integrated taxonomy, biodiversity, fishery assessment, food web

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