PARA 704: PARASITE EVOLUTION AND ECOLOGY

The course seeks to provide students with an overview of evolutionary ecology approach to the dynamics of the interactions between parasites and hosts towards developing research ideas that seeks to shed light on evolutionary forces that influence the outcome of these interactions. With particular emphasis on the ecological and evolutionary impact of parasites on their host, themes to be studied will include the following: Origins of parasitism and complex life cycles; Evolution of parasite life-history strategies; Host specificity and exploitation strategies; Causes and consequences of parasite aggregation; Parasite population dynamics and genetics, Inter-species and parasite niche interactions, Infracommunity structure of parasites, Component communities and parasite faunas.