Acknowledgments ix
List of Contributors xi
Introduction by Felicia Keesing, Richard S. Ostfeld, and Valerie T. Eviner 1
PART I: Effects of Ecosystems on Disease
Introduction by Felicia Keesing 9
CHAPTER ONE: Effects of Host Diversity on Disease Dynamics by Michael Begon 12
CHAPTER TWO: The Role of Vector Diversity in Disease Dynamics by Alison G. Power and Alexander S. Flecker 30
CHAPTER THREE: Understanding Host- Multipathogen Systems: Modeling the Interaction between Ecol ogy and Immunology by Pejman Rohani, Helen J. Wearing, Daniel A. Vasco, and Yunxin Huang 48
CHAPTER FOUR: Influence of Eutrophication on Disease in Aquatic Ecosystems: Patterns, Pro cesses, and Predictions by Pieter T. J. Johnson and Stephen R. Carpenter 71
CHAPTER FIVE: Landscape Structure, Disturbance, and Disease Dynamics by Hamish McCallum 100
PART II: Effects of Disease on Ecosystems
Introduction by Valerie T. Eviner 125
CHAPTER SIX: Effects of Disease on Keystone Species, Dominant Species, and Their Communities by Sharon K. Collinge, Chris Ray, and Jack F. Cully, Jr. 129
CHAPTER SEVEN: Red Queen Communities by Keith Clay, Kurt Reinhart, Jennifer Rudgers, Tammy Tintjer, Jennifer Koslow, and S. Luke Flory 145
CHAPTER EIGHT: Invasion Biology and Parasitic Infections by Sarah E. Perkins, Sonia Altizer, Ottar Bjornstad, Jeremy J. Burdon, Keith Clay, Lorena Gómez- Aparicio, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Pieter T. J. Johnson, Kevin D. Lafferty, Carolyn M. Malmstrom, Patrick Martin, Alison Power, David L. Strayer, Peter H. Thrall, and Maria Uriarte. 179
CHAPTER NINE: Effects of Disease on Community Interactions and Food Web Structure by Kevin D. Lafferty 205
CHAPTER TEN: Is Infectious Disease Just Another Type of Predator- Prey Interaction? by Spencer R. Hall, Kevin D. Lafferty, James M. Brown, Carla E. Cáceres, Jonathan M. Chase, Andrew P. Dobson, Robert D. Holt, Clive G. Jones, Sarah E. Randolph, and Pejman Rohani 223
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Microbial Disease in the Sea: Effects of Viruses on Carbon and Nutrient Cycling by Mathias Middelboe 242
CHAPTER TWELVE: Effects of Pathogens on Terrestrial Ecosystem Function by Valerie T. Eviner and Gene E. Likens 260
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Disease Effects on Landscape and Regional Systems: A Resilience Framework by F. Stuart Chapin III, Valerie T. Eviner, Lee M. Talbot, Bruce A. Wilcox, Dawn R. Magness, Carol A. Brewer, and Daniel S. Keebler 284
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Research Frontiers in Ecological Systems: Evaluating the Impacts of Infectious Disease on Ecosystems by Sharon L. Deem, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Jessica R. Ward, and Bruce A. Wilcox 304
PART III: Management and Applications
Introduction by Richard S. Ostfeld 321
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: The Community Context of Disease Emergence: Could Changes in Predation Be a Key Driver? by Robert D. Holt 324
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: The Emergence of Wildlife Disease and the Application of Ecology by Peter J. Hudson, Sarah E. Perkins, and Isabella M. Cattadori 347
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Applied Biodiversity Science: Managing Emerging Diseases in Agriculture and Linked Natural Systems Using Ecological Principles by K. A. Garrett and C. M. Cox 368
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: The Ecol ogy of an Infectious Coral Disease in the Florida Keys: From Pathogens to Politics by James W. Porter, Erin K. Lipp, Kathryn P. Sutherland, and Erich Mueller 387
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Infection and Ecol ogy: Calomys callosus, Machupo Virus, and Acute Hemorrhagic Fever by Karl M. Johnson 404
CHAPTER TWENTY: Resolved: Emerging Infections of Humans Can Be Controlled by Ecological Interventions by C. J. Peters 423
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: From Ecological Theory and Knowledge to Application by James E. Childs 441
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Educating about Infectious Disease Ecol ogy by Carol A. Brewer, Alan R. Berkowitz, Patricia A. Conrad, James Porter, and Margaret Waterman 448
PART IV Concluding Comments: Frontiers in the Ecology of Infectious Diseases
The Ecology of Infectious Diseases: Progress, Challenges, and Frontiers by Richard S. Ostfeld, Felicia Keesing, and Valerie T. Eviner 469
Index 483

News headlines are forever reporting diseases that take huge tolls on humans, wildlife, domestic animals, and both cultivated and native plants worldwide. These diseases can also completely transform the ecosystems that feed us and provide us with other critical benefits, from flood control to water purification. And yet diseases sometimes serve to maintain the structure and function of the ecosystems on which humans depend.
Gathering thirteen essays by forty leading experts who convened at the Cary Conference at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in 2005, this book develops an integrated framework for understanding where these diseases come from, what ecological factors influence their impacts, and how they in turn influence ecosystem dynamics. It marks the first comprehensive and in-depth exploration of the rich and complex linkages between ecology and disease, and provides conceptual underpinnings to understand and ameliorate epidemics. It also sheds light on the roles that diseases play in ecosystems, bringing vital new insights to landscape management issues in particular. While the ecological context is a key piece of the puzzle, effective control and understanding of diseases requires the interaction of professionals in medicine, epidemiology, veterinary medicine, forestry, agriculture, and ecology. The essential resource on the subject, Infectious Disease Ecology seeks to bridge these fields with an ecological approach that focuses on systems thinking and complex interactions.

Richard S. Ostfeld is senior scientist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Felicia Keesing is associate professor of biology at Bard College. Valerie T. Eviner is assistant professor of plant sciences at the University of California, Davis.