ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2002
The role of parasites in the dynamics of a reindeer population.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 391 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sublethal effects of parasitism on ruminants can have cascading consequences for ecosystems.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Pooled it
- Helminths of urban rats in developed countries: a systematic review to identify research gaps.Parasitology research · 2020Pooled it
- Ecological Analysis of the Helminth Community and Its Relationship with the Physiological State in the Montane Water Vole,Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Spiculopteragia boehmi is the dominant abomasal nematode species in reindeer (Nordland County, Norway) sharing pasture with wild and domesticated ruminants.Acta veterinaria Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Moose Survival and Habitat-Associated Risk of Endoparasites.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Arctic Greening Drives Changes in the Diet and Gut Microbiome of a Large Herbivore With Consequences for Body Mass.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Parasite-host contact in the Arctic: dispersal behaviour of infective nematode larvae from Svalbard reindeer faeces.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Zoonotic risks and conservation challenges: Gastrointestinal parasites in wild mammals of Chitwan National Park, Nepal.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- Gastrointestinal helminth infections and ectoparasitism in wild rodents along wildlife-human interfaces in Tanzania.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2025Article
- Response of Northern bobwhite (International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Review
- Exploring winter diet, gut microbiota and parasitism in caribou using multi-marker metabarcoding of fecal DNA.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Endoparasites of Red Deer (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Direct and indirect costs of parasitism preceding a population decline of an Arctic ungulate.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Helminths of captive and free-ranging populations of the mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella): Evidence from faecal examination.Veterinary medicine and science · 2024Article
- Parasite infestations and infections of non-traditional pets and wild mammals: diagnosis and treatment.Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria · 2024Article
- The complete mitochondrial genome ofParasitology · 2023Article
- Male-Biased Parasitism of Brandt's Voles (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Faecal metabarcoding provides improved detection and taxonomic resolution for non-invasive monitoring of gastrointestinal nematode parasites in wild moose populations.Parasites & vectors · 2023Article
- Winter condition variability decreases the economic sustainability of reindeer husbandry.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2023Article
- Helminth parasites are associated with reduced survival probability in young red deer.Parasitology · 2022Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Even though theoretical models show that parasites may regulate host population densities, few empirical studies have given support to this hypothesis. We present experimental and observational evidence for a host-parasite interaction where the parasite has sufficient impact on host population dynamics for regulation to occur. During a six year study of the Svalbard reindeer and its parasitic gastrointestinal nematode Ostertagia gruehneri we found that anthelminthic treatment in April-May increased the probability of a reindeer having a calf in the next year, compared with untreated controls. However, treatment did not influence the over-winter survival of the reindeer. The annual variation in the degree to which parasites depressed fecundity was positively related to the abundance of O. gruehneri infection the previous October, which in turn was related to host density two years earlier. In addition to the treatment effect, there was a strong negative effect of winter precipitation on the probability of female reindeer having a calf. A simple matrix model was parameterized using estimates from our experimental and observational data. This model shows that the parasite-mediated effect on fecundity was sufficient to regulate reindeer densities around observed host densities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.