{"id":9,"date":"2020-08-07T20:39:38","date_gmt":"2020-08-07T20:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strausslab.ecology.uga.edu\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2025-10-29T17:15:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:15:49","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/strausslab.ecology.uga.edu\/?page_id=9","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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What We Do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research in the Strauss lab is conceptually motivated by questions in community and\/or disease ecology. Most projects in the lab relates one or more of the following research themes<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Relationships between biodiversity and disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Effects of predators on disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Thermal ecology of infectious disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Ecology and evolution of complex lifecycle parasites.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Most projects in the lab also focus on one of the following zooplankton study systems<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. A virulent fungal parasite that infects Daphnia<\/em> in Midwestern lakes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Microsporidian parasites that alternate between infecting cladocerans in the Southeast<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Guinea worm parasites that alternate between infecting copepods and humans in central Africa.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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      Research Themes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1) Relationships between biodiversity and disease<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \u2018Dilution effects\u2019 are patterns where increases in host diversity correspond with reductions in disease risk for a focal host species. This pattern can arise in zooplankton communities, when a) \u2018diluter\u2019 hosts consume parasites while rarely becoming infected, or b) \u2018diluters\u2019 compete with focal hosts, reduce their density, and inhibit density dependent disease transmission. However, \u2018amplification effects\u2019 can also occur, where levels of disease increase with added species diversity. Patterns of dilution vs amplification occur broadly in other communities of plants and animals for similar reasons. We are interested in building and testing models that predict how the likelihood of dilution or amplification varies with contexts including thermal conditions, predation regimes, host traits, evolutionary potential of hosts, and diversity of the parasite community. We approach these questions through a combination of field surveys in lakes and ponds, models parameterized with laboratory experiments, and mesocosm experiments that track changes in host community composition and infection patterns over multiple generations. Relevant publications: Strauss et al. 2015 Ecology Letters; Strauss et al. 2016 Ecological Monographs; Strauss et al. 2017 Proceedings B; Strauss et al. 2018 Functional Ecology; Strauss et al. 2024 Scientific Reports<\/p>\n\n\n

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