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Published on: January 12, 2022
Plagued by drought: how water scarcity reshapes host-parasite interactions
Pieter Johnson1, Tara Stewart Merrill2
1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
|August 12, 2026
Summary
Droughts intensify infectious diseases by concentrating pathogens, favoring tolerant hosts, and amplifying transmission. This research provides a framework for understanding and forecasting water-associated infections in a changing climate.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Epidemiology
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Global droughts are increasing, impacting ecosystems, biodiversity, and human health.
- The effects of drought on infectious diseases, particularly water-associated infections, are complex and not fully understood.
- Drought alters host-pathogen interactions, influencing disease transmission dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize theoretical and empirical evidence on how drought affects water-associated infectious diseases.
- To identify ecological mechanisms driving drought-mediated changes in infection dynamics.
- To provide a framework for forecasting infectious diseases in drought-prone regions.
Main Methods:
- Literature synthesis of drought impacts on water-associated diseases.
- Identification and analysis of ecological mechanisms influencing disease transmission under drought conditions.
- Linking hydrological changes to epidemiological and ecological processes.
Main Results:
- Drought influences infection dynamics through three key ecological mechanisms: concentration of pathogens in shrinking water refugia, selective advantage for drought-tolerant hosts/vectors/pathogens, and amplification of transmission heterogeneity.
- Drought conditions can paradoxically increase the risk of water-associated infections.
- Specific parasite traits and host-pathogen strategies are favored under drought conditions.
Conclusions:
- Drought significantly modifies infectious disease patterns by altering ecological and epidemiological processes.
- A framework linking hydrology to disease ecology is crucial for understanding and predicting infectious disease outbreaks in water-limited environments.
- This research informs strategies for managing infectious disease risks associated with climate change and increasing drought frequency.
Keywords:
climate extremeshost–parasite interactionshydrological changespatial epidemiologywildlife conservationMore Related Videos
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