Bird-parasite interactions: ecology, evolution and behaviour

In his foreward, P.Price argues that "with this volume a paradigm is born: parasites are likely to play a role in practically every aspect of the evolutionary biology of birds, and probably vertebrates in general'. The 21 contributions to this book (see 92L/11261, 11262, 11365-11380, 11383, 11455 and 11633) together review published information and present original data from field and laboratory. The introductory section comprises a paper reviewing current theory of host-parasite interactions. Part II examines aspects of the ecology of such interactions, Part III aspects of behaviour, and Part IV sexual selection. Each of the last three parts includes an introductory review, using a theoretical approach with reference to empirical data. Topics include examination of the consequences of parasitism on host fitness, host population regulation and parasite demography, and the Hamilton-Zuk hypothesis concerning assessment of male quality via plumage colour as an indicator of parasite load. Ten of the chapters were presented as papers at the 1988 meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union in a symposium on "Avian responses to parasitism'. -P.J.Jarvis