Links community ecology and epidemiology to demonstrate how parasites affect species interactions and consequently ecosystem function, invasions and emerging diseases.

Part I. Introduction; Part II. Parasites and Competitors: 1. Introduction; 2. One host-one parasite systems; 3. Apparent competition; 4. Parasite-mediated competition; 5. Parasite-modified competition; 6. Examples from conservation and management; 7. Competition between parasites; 8. Conclusions; Part III. Parasites and Predators: 9. Introduction; 10. Parasites of prey with specialist predators; 11. Parasites of prey with generalist predators; 12. Parasites of predator; 13. Parasites of predator and prey; 14. Applications: predator control and harvesting; 15. Conclusions; Part IV. Parasites and Intraguild Predation: 16. Introduction; 17. Ecological significance of IGP; 18. IGP as a unifying framework for competition and predation; 19. Parasites intrinsic to IGP; 20. Parasites extrinsic to IGP; 21. Models of parasitism extrinsic to IGP; 22. IGP and the evolution of host-parasite relationships; 23. Conclusions; Part V. Plant Pathogens and Parasitic Plants: 24. Introduction: parasitism of plants; 25. Soil borne pathogens; 26. Plant defence strategies; 27. Parasitic plants; 28. Endophytes; 29. Conclusions; Part VI. Parasites and Invasions: 30. Introduction; 31. Parasite introduction and acquisition; 32. Loss of parasites by invaders: enemy release; 33. Invasions and host-parasite co-evolution; 34. The impact of parasitism on biological invasion; 35. Conclusions; Part VII. Ecosystem Parasitology: 36. Introduction; 37. Trophic cascades; 38. Parasite dynamics in multihost communities; 39. Biodiversity and disease; 40. Parasites in the food web; 41. Bioenergetic implications of parasitism; 42. Ecosystem engineering; 43. Ecosystem health; 44. Evolutionary considerations; 45. Conclusions; Part VIII. Emerging Diseases in Humans and Wildlife: 46. Introduction; 47. The process of disease emergence; 48. The evolution of emergence; 49. Phylogenetic and temporal patterns of emergence; 50. Environmental change and emergence; 51. Conservation and control; 52. Conclusions; Part IX. Where Do We Go From Here?; References; Index.

Melanie J. Hatcher is Visiting Research Fellow, School of Biology, University of Bristol, and Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds.