title: Host-parasite coevolution: why changing population size matters.
abstract: Host-parasite coevolution is widely assumed to have a major influence on biological evolution, especially as these interactions impose high selective pressure on the reciprocally interacting antagonists. The exact nature of the underlying dynamics is yet under debate and may be determined by recurrent selective sweeps (i.e., arms race dynamics), negative frequency-dependent selection (i.e., Red Queen dynamics), or a combination thereof. These interactions are often associated with reciprocally induced changes in population size, which, in turn, should have a strong impact on co-adaptation processes, yet are neglected in most current work on the topic. Here, we discuss potential consequences of temporal variations in population size on host-parasite coevolution. The limited empirical data available and the current theoretical literature in this field highlight that the consideration of such interaction-dependent population size changes is likely key for the full understanding of the coevolutionary dynamics, and, thus, a more realistic view on the complex nature of species interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, 24098, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papkou
authors.affiliation: New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Private Bag 102904, Auckland 0745, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Chaitanya S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Gokhale
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Theory, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann-Straße 2, 24306 Plön, Germany.
authors.forename: Arne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Traulsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, 24098, Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: hschulenburg@zoologie.uni-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Hinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schulenburg
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000235:genetics*; D010271:Parasites / Q000235:genetics*; D011157:Population Dynamics
keywords: Genetic drift; Host–parasite coevolution; Negative frequency-dependent selection; Population bottlenecks; Population size dynamics; Recurrent selective sweeps