Bird Parasites—3rd Edition
A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Diversity".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 67
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biodiversity; biogeography; birds; molecular ecology; phylogeography; systematics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Birds are parasitized by a wide variety of endo- and ectoparasites, including arthropods, helminths, and protists. While the effects of some parasites on their bird hosts can be relatively benign, others have been shown to have major impacts, ranging from reduced reproductive fitness to death. Parasites can also adversely impact entire communities, with the effects of malaria parasites on the naïve Hawaiian avifauna being perhaps the best-known example. While our knowledge of avian parasites and host–parasite relationships has increased considerably over the past several decades, considerable gaps remain, including parasite distributions, host–parasite relationships, and the effects of geography on these distributions and relationships.
In this Special Issue, we seek to gather papers that will advance our overall knowledge of bird parasites and provide a further foundation for our ability to conduct studies to (1) test ecological theory, (2) provide an improved understanding of biogeographic patterns and the drivers of these patterns, (3) allow for the predictive modeling of parasite distributions based on climate change predictions, (4) improve our knowledge of parasitic effects on host fitness, and (5) allow for broader assessments of host specialization versus host generalism by parasites and the factors underlying these strategies.
Prof. Dr. Gary Voelker
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- avian parasites
- taxonomic diversity and host associations
- host–parasite interactions
- ecological assessment and modeling
- biogeographical distribution
- climate change effects
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