Conservation of animals' parasite species: Problems and prospects

Abstract

Parasitism is a widespread life-history strategy in nature. Despite the abundance of parasitic species, many aspects of their biology (e.g., population parameters, vulnerability degree, extinction possibility, and the need for protection) remain understudied. Parasites are perceived negatively (even by some scientists). This results in the underappreciation of the importance of parasites in the biosphere. In this review, we summarise modern views on the ecological, scientific and applied significance of parasites. According to literature review, parasitism is not considered as a strictly negative phenomenon. And parasites are recognised as significant components of the ecosystem similarly to free-living species. Prospects and extent of co-extinction of parasites with the hosts and the possible consequences of this phenomenon are discussed. Additionally, we discussed the problems and solutions associated with parasitic species conservation as well as recommendations on considering the status of protected species to several ectoparasite species.