CONSERVATION OF PARASITES: Emphasis as Species

 Post #31

Conservation of Parasites: Emphasis as Species

Donald A. Windsor

Successful conservation of parasites is being handicapped because people (including many scientists) are not always differentiating between parasites as individuals and parasites as species.

Here is what must be emphasized. Species evolve. Individuals do not.

Parasites, as individuals, harm their hosts, by definition.

Parasites, as species, actually benefit their host species.

At the species level, parasites benefit their hosts by enabling them to survive. Parasites manage the ecosystems in which the hosts live. Without suitable ecosystems, the hosts would have to either go extinct or evolve into new species.

Without parasites, ecosystems would deteriorate into just a few monocultures of very aggressively invasive species. Biodiversity is due to parasites. 

===== 

 

HEMIPARASITES BENEFIT THEIR HOSTS AT THE SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEM LEVELS

Hemiparasites Benefit Their Hosts At The Species And Ecosystem Levels

Post #28

Donald A. Windsor

Hemiparasites are photosynthetic plants that parasitize free-living plants to obtain nutrients (1).

Growth of the host plants can be stunted by the hemiparasites, thus allowing more sunlight to reach lower growing plants and increasing biodiversity.

Hemiparasites benefit prairie ecosystems similar to the way grazing animals do, by preventing the taller plants from taking over. For this reason they are sometimes called "pseudograzers" (2).

Individual hemiparasites harm their individual hosts, but the hemiparasites as species benefit other species, and the resulting biodiversity benefits the ecosystem. All species in the ecosystem benefit from the ecosystem staying intact.

References cited:

1. Těšitel, Jakub ; Plavcova, Lenka ; Cameron, Duncan. Interactions between hemiparasitic plants and their hosts: The importance of organic carbon transfer. Plant Signaling & Behavior 2010 August; 5(9): 1072-1076.

2. DiGiovanni, Jane P. ; Wysocki, William P. ; Burke, Sean V. ; Duvall, Melvin R. ; Barber, Nicholas A. The role of hemiparasitic plants: influencing tallgrass prairie quality, diversity, and structure. Restoration Ecology 2017 May; 25(3): 405-413.

====

DEEP SUBSURFACE BIOSPHERE ─ ANY PARASITES?

Deep Subsurface Biosphere ─ Any Parasites?

Post #27

Donald A. Windsor

As even more information comes in on the deep subsurface biosphere, the more I wonder about generalities already made about our surface biosphere.

The deep subsurface biosphere is composed of archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes that live underground down to great depths, even under the oceans (1 - 6). It could have more species than our surface biosphere does (2).

Six years ago I proposed that parasitism was a property of life on Earth and if it is found on extraterrestrial planets, it would be a universal property. If it were not found on other planets, then it would be a property of Earth alone (7).

So far, I have not uncovered any reports of parasites in the deep subsurface biosphere.

In 1998 I proclaimed that most of the species on Earth were parasites (8). If there are no parasites in the deep subsurface biosphere, my hypothesis would be nullified. However, I did say "on" Earth, not "in". Nevertheless, I meant "on", because I was not aware of how massive the deep subsurface biosphere is.

Another thought I advocated is that parasites produce biodiversity by stopping monocultures before they get too large (9). Some of the colonies in the deep subsurface may have monocultures. That in itself could indicate a lack of parasites.

I find this all very exciting because I thought that finding extraterrestrial life on Mars would be a test of my hypotheses (10). But now the deep subsurface biosphere may provide that test.

References cited:

1. Lawton, Graham. Earth's deep, dark secret. New Scientist 2019 May 11; 242(3229): 42-45.

2. Klein, JoAnna. Deep beneath your feet, they live in the octillions. The New York Times 2018 December 19.

3. Purkamo, Lotta. et al. Diversity and functionality of archaeal, bacterial, and fungal communities in deep archaean bedrock. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 2018; 94: 1-14.

4. D'Hondt, Steven; et al. Presence of oxygen and aerobic communities from sea floor to basement in deep-sea sediments. Nature Geoscience 2015; 8: 299-304.

5. Magnabosco, C. et al. The biomass and biodiversity of the continental subsurface. Nature Geoscience 2018 October; 11(10): 707.

6. Puente-Sánchez, Fernando. et al. Viable cyanobacteria in the deep continental subsurface. PNAS 2018 October 16; 115(42): 10702-10707.

7. Windsor, Donald A. Parasitism as a property of life. parasitesdominate.blogspot.com 2013 September 3. Post #2.

8. Windsor, Donald A. Most of the species on Earth are parasites. International Journal for Parasitology 1998 December; 28(12): 1939-1941.

9. Windsor, Donald A. Role of parasites in Earth's biosphere. parasitesdominate.blogspot.com 2017 September 30. Post #13.

10. Windsor, Donald A. Parasitism on Mars. parasitesdominate.blogspot.com 2015 November 8. Post #10

====