Interesting Open Questions in Disease Ecology and Evolution

Abstract

Studies on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases have expanded at an increasing rate over the last several decades (fig. 1). This interest seems to have originally stemmed from models suggesting that host-parasite interactions might explain previously anomalous features of the natural world, such as sexual reproduction (Hamilton 1980), female mate choice (Hamilton and Zuk 1982), the maintenance of genetic diversity (Haldane 1949), and the regulation of host populations (Anderson and May 1979; May and Anderson 1979). The interest was further increased by early theory on the evolution of parasite virulence (May and Anderson 1983) as well as by concerns regarding the emergence of infectious diseases. Here we present a short list of interesting open questions for future research. The questions are based on an American Society of Naturalists Symposium in 2013 entitled, “Disease Ecology, Evolution, and Coevolution.” Our list is not meant to be exhaustive, as many important questions remain, but we hope that it will encourage additional work in these areas.