The final frontier : ecological and evolutionary dynamics of a global parasite invasion

N. C. Chapman, T. Colin, James Cook, C. R. B. Da Silva, R. Gloag, K. Hogendoorn, S. R. Howard, E. J. Remnant, J. M. K. Roberts, Simon M. Tierney, R. S. Wilson, A. S. Mikheyev

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Studying rapid biological changes accompanying the introduction of alien organisms into native ecosystems can provide insights into fundamental ecological and evolutionary theory. While powerful, this quasi-experimental approach is difficult to implement because the timing of invasions and their consequences are hard to predict, meaning that baseline pre-invasion data are often missing. Exceptionally, the eventual arrival of Varroa destructor (hereafter Varroa) in Australia has been predicted for decades. Varroa is a major driver of honeybee declines worldwide, particularly as vectors of diverse RNA viruses. The detection of Varroa in 2022 at over a hundred sites poses a risk of further spread across the continent. At the same time, careful study of Varroa's spread, if it does become established, can provide a wealth of information that can fill knowledge gaps about its effects worldwide. This includes how Varroa affects honeybee populations and pollination. Even more generally, Varroa invasion can serve as a model for evolution, virology and ecological interactions between the parasite, the host and other organisms.
Original languageEnglish
Article number20220589
Number of pages7
JournalBiology Letters
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 May 2023

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

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