title: Host specificity in phylogenetic and geographic space.
abstract: The measurement of host specificity goes well beyond counting how many host species can successfully be used by a parasite. In particular, specificity can be assessed with respect to how closely related the host species are, or whether a parasite exploits the same or different hosts across its entire geographic range. Recent developments in the measurement of biodiversity offer a new set of analytical tools that can be used to quantify the many aspects of host specificity. We describe here the multifaceted nature of host specificity, summarize the indices available to measure its different facets one at a time or in combination, and discuss their implications for parasite evolution and disease epidemiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. robert.poulin@otago.ac.nz
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.forename: Boris R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Krasnov
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mouillot
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D058507:Host Specificity; D010271:Parasites / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity