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The Role of Parasites in Plant Populations and Communities

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Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function

Abstract

All parasites have the potential to induce marked changes in the dynamics of host populations through the action of the generalized selective forces of increased mortality, reduced fecundity and lowered competitive ability. Agricultural experience has underlined the debilitating effects that parasitic plants, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses may have on host plants, but this provides little guide to their importance in the far more diverse and unpredictable world of natural ecosystems.

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Authors
  1. J. J. Burdon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Lehrstuhl für Pflanzenökologie, Universität Bayreuth, Postfach 1021 51, D-95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Ernst-Detlef Schulze

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Harold A. Mooney

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Burdon, J.J. (1994). The Role of Parasites in Plant Populations and Communities. In: Schulze, ED., Mooney, H.A. (eds) Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function. Praktische Zahnmedizin Odonto-Stomatologie Pratique Practical Dental Medicine, vol 99. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-58001-7_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-58001-7_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-58103-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-58001-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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