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Forget lions, tigers, and sharks. The billions of tiny parasites that make a living castrating and brainwashing their hosts may be the new kings of the food web.
Every ecosystem is loaded with tiny parasites—viruses, bacteria, protozoans, fungi, and animals—invisibly feeding on just about every living thing. The Serengeti’s lions, for example, are the sole host to 31 species of worms and flukes, along with two species of bacteria, two arthropods, six protozoans, and ten viruses. In fact, a recent study in Nature found parasites to be so plentiful that, in terms of biomass, they actually outweigh predators in some ecosystems—sometimes by a factor of 20. (1)
Parasites are often regarded as a scourge on nature, but
they may actually keep ecosystems healthy.
when ecosystems begin to suffer, parasites are often the first ones to feel the effects—leading some scientists to believe the tiny creatures could form an early warning system for ecosystems in trouble.
clipped from: www.conservationmagazine.org