J. Trevor Vannatta

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Assistant Professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Co-exposure to multiple parasites can alter parasite success and host life history when compared to single infections. These infection outcomes can be affected by the order of parasite arrival, the host immune response, and the interspecific interactions among co-infecting parasites. In this study, we examined how the arrival order of two trematode...

The global increase in antibiotic use has led to contamination of freshwater environments. Despite the identified impacts of antibiotics on humans and wildlife, the effect of antibiotics on host–parasite life cycles in freshwater is relatively unexplored. In the current study, we utilize the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni, and its snail int...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009524.].

Significance We found that pervasive parasitic infections reduce herbivory rates and can trigger trophic cascades. Lethal parasites clearly have cascading impacts on ecosystems, but whether common sublethal infections have similar effects is largely unknown. Using a mathematical model, we probed how parasites that reduce host survival, fecundity, o...

Seawater intrusion associated with decreasing groundwater levels and rising seawater levels may affect freshwater species and their parasites. While brackish water certainly impacts freshwater systems globally, its impact on disease transmission is largely unknown. This study examined the effect of artificial seawater on host-parasite interactions...

Host–parasite coevolution may result in life-history changes in hosts that can limit the detrimental effects of parasitism. Fecundity compensation is one such life-history response, occurring when hosts increase their current reproductive output to make up for expected losses in future reproduction due to parasitic infection. However, the potential...

Pathogens and parasites are increasingly recognized as important components within host populations, communities, and ecosystems. Both density-mediated and trait-mediated impacts of parasites on ecosystems are known and likely operate together to influence ecosystem processes. Despite the assertion that impacts of parasites are pervasive, empirical...

Host-parasite coevolution may result in life-history changes in hosts that can limit the detrimental effects of parasitism. Fecundity compensation is one such life-history response, occurring when hosts increase their current reproductive output to make up for expected losses in future reproduction due to parasitic infection. However, the potential...

Seawater intrusion caused by anthropogenic climate change may affect freshwater species and their parasites. While brackish water certainly impacts freshwater systems globally, its impact on disease transmission is largely unknown. This study examined the effect of artificial seawater on host-parasite interactions using a freshwater snail host, Bio...

Within a single organism, numerous parasites often compete for space and resources. This competition, together with a parasite’s ability to locate and successfully establish in a host, can contribute to the distribution and prevalence of parasites. Coinfection with trematodes in snail intermediate hosts is rarely observed in nature, partly due to v...

The global increase in antibiotic use has led to contamination of freshwater environments occupied by parasites and their hosts. Despite the identified impacts of antibiotics on humans and wildlife, the effect of antibiotics on host-parasite life cycles is relatively unexplored. We utilize the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni, and its snail i...

Ruminant livestock are a significant contributor to global methane emissions. Infectious diseases have the potential to exacerbate these contributions by elevating methane outputs associated with animal production. With the increasing spread of many infectious diseases, the emergence of a vicious climate–livestock–disease cycle is a looming threat.

Wildlife are increasingly common in suburban environments as towns and cities spread into surrounding rural areas. Many wildlife species have adapted to these new environments; however, we know comparatively little about how parasites respond urbanization of host habitats. Parasites are important members within ecological communities and alteration...

The manipulation of host organisms by their parasites has captured the attention of ecologists, parasitologists, and the public. However, our knowledge of parasite behavior independent of a host is limited despite the far-reaching implications of parasite behavior. Parasite behaviors can help explain trematode community structure, the aggregation o...

Consumer species alter nutrient cycling through nutrient transformation, transfer, and bioturbation. Parasites have rarely been considered in this framework despite their ability to indirectly alter the cycling of nutrients via their hosts. A simple mathematical framework can be used to assess the relative importance of parasite-derived nutrients i...

The giant liver fluke, Fascioloides magna, is a possible contributing factor to moose (Alces alces) declines in North America, but evidence linking F. magna infection directly to moose mortality is scarce. This review identifies knowledge gaps about the transmission and impact of F. magna infection on moose and proposes new directions for research...

SUMMARY Parasites that primarily infect white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), such as liver flukes (Fascioloides magna) and meningeal worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis), can cause morbidity and mortality when incidentally infecting moose (Alces alces). Ecological factors are expected to influence spatial variation in infection risk by affectin...