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Related Experiment Videos

Can animals use foraging behaviour to combat parasites?

Michael R Hutchings1, Spiridoula Athanasiadou, Ilias Kyriazakis

  • 1Animal Nutrition and Health Department, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK. M.Hutchings@ed.sac.ac.uk

The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society
|September 26, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Mammalian herbivores use foraging skills to combat parasites by avoiding contaminated areas, selecting resistant diets, or self-medicating with plants. These behaviors are crucial for survival and reproduction in the host-parasite arms race.

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Area of Science:

  • Zoology
  • Ecology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Host-parasite interactions are a significant challenge to mammalian growth and reproduction.
  • Herbivory is a primary route for parasite transmission in mammals.
  • Parasites continually evolve to overcome host resistance, creating an evolutionary arms race.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the foraging skills of mammalian herbivores in combating parasites.
  • To explore how herbivores exploit plant properties to mitigate parasitic infections.
  • To examine the role of behavior in the host-parasite arms race.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on herbivore foraging behavior and parasitism.
  • Analysis of how herbivores detect and respond to parasite presence and distribution.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Discussion of experimental approaches to demonstrate self-medication using plant secondary metabolites.

    • Main Results:

    • Herbivores employ three main behavioral strategies: avoiding parasite-contaminated areas, selecting diets for resistance, and self-medicating with anti-parasitic plants.
    • Effective parasite combat requires herbivores to assess their parasitic state, environmental parasite distribution, and plant properties.
    • Evidence for self-medication using plant secondary metabolites is currently equivocal, with both beneficial and toxic effects observed.

    Conclusions:

    • Mammalian herbivores possess sophisticated foraging skills to manage parasite infections through behavioral adaptations.
    • Behavioral strategies are a key weapon for herbivores in the ongoing host-parasite evolutionary arms race.
    • Further research, including tri-trophic interaction studies, is needed to fully understand self-medication in herbivores.