When we hear the word “parasite”, what comes into our minds are organisms that take advantage of their hosts and make them suffer. But while some of these parasites do cause harm to other organisms and creatures, this fact is only true for 4% of known parasites. The other parasites, meanwhile, play major ecological roles. And so, in reality, while there are some parasites that are known to be dangerous and should be eradicated, there are also some parasites which are to be protected.
About a dozen leading parasite ecologists, including University of Washington's Chelsea Wood, published a paper Aug. 1 in the journal Biological Conservation, which lays out an ambitious global conservation plan for parasites.
"Parasites are an incredibly diverse group of species, but as a society, we do not recognize this biological diversity as valuable," said Wood, an assistant professor in the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. "The point of this paper is to emphasize that we are losing parasites and the functions they serve without even recognizing it."
More details about this over at EurekAlert.
(Image Credit: CDC/ Wikimedia Commons)
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