Parasites in the context of global climate change, environmental crises and species extinction
Chelomina G.N. 1
Year: 2026, Number: 1, Pages: 56-74
Parasitism, which emerged at the earliest stages of life on Earth and is of great importance for human health and ecosystems, requires special attention during periods of planetary polycrisis. This review briefl y discusses how the current drastic environmental changes caused by global warming, unprecedented intensifi cation of anthropogenic impact, and mass extinction of species affect parasites and their consequences. Modern classifi cations of parasite host specifi city and methods for its determination are described, as well as factors infl uencing parasite abundance, extinction, and virulence. Such current topics as the “trade-off ” and “ecological niche” theories, the “co-extinction” hypotheses of host and parasites, and the “dilution eff ect” are discussed. The application of evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) and the mean pairwise phylogenetic distance (MPD) between host species to assess the impact of past and future (within predictive models) extinctions on current contemporary parasite host specifi city is considered. Examples of ecological modeling of realized parasite specifi city and the prediction of parasitic infections in humans, domestic animals, and wild animals are presented. The relationship between parasite community dynamics and epidemiological indicators is demonstrated, as well as prospects for the development of diagnostic parasitology.
DOI: 10.25221/2782-1978_2026_1_5
Keywords: Parasites, host specifi city, species extinction, environmental crises,