Ecology 5th Edition by Manuel Molles

Exercise 19

Early work on exploitation focused a great deal of attention on predator-prey relations. However, parasites and pathogens represent a substantial part of the discussions in chapter 14. Is this representation by parasites and pathogens just the result of biased choices by the author or do you think that parasites and pathogens have the potential to exert significant controls on natural populations? Justify your answer.