The Potential of the Parasite Fauna as an Indicator of Ecosystem Health in the Anthropized Environments of Mexico

Abstract

The loss of habitat and biodiversity, together with global climate change due to human activities, has a negative effect on the composition and structure of important animal communities, with parasites being among the most impacted. This has severe consequences for the functioning of ecosystems and human health, as has become abundantly clear during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Parasites are relevant for the biodiversity of ecosystems, but they have not been given the necessary recognition in the vast majority of current ecological studies. It is estimated that a comprehensive study of parasites could increase the species richness of the communities at a global level by more than 50% in relation to current data. For many parasites to exist, the environmental conditions and the specific intermediate and definitive hosts must be present to complete their life cycles. Because of these close, obligate interactions, they can be considered as sentinel species of ecosystem health, reflecting on the presence and diversity of multiple species of their intermediate and definitive hosts. Mexico has a long history of parasitological studies but has only been able to cover 20% of the vertebrate species registered for the country. This lack of information creates a serious limitation on the development of future preventive strategies to deal with possible zoonoses, mainly in the transition zones between natural rural-urban environments. As a megadiverse country, what can we find out there regarding Mexico’s parasites?.