Identifying the factors that affect host–parasite interactions is essential for understanding the ecology and dynamics of vector‐borne diseases and may be an important component of predicting human disease risk. Characteristics of hosts themselves (e.g., body condition, host behavior, immune defenses) may affect the likelihood of parasitism. However, despite highly variable rates of parasitism and infection in wild populations, identifying widespread links between individual characteristics and heterogeneity in parasite acquisition has proven challenging because many zoonoses exist over wide geographic extents and exhibit both spatial and temporal heterogeneity in prevalence and individual and population‐level effects. Using seven years of data collected by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), we examined relationships among individual host condition, behavior, and parasitism by Ixodid ticks in a keystone host species, the white‐footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. We found that individual condition, specifically sex, body mass, and reproductive condition, had both direct and indirect effects on parasitism by ticks, but the nature of these effects differed for parasitism by larval versus nymphal ticks. We also found that condition differences influenced rodent behavior, and behavior directly affected the rates of parasitism, with individual mice that moved farther being more likely to carry ticks. This study illustrates how individual‐level data can be examined using large‐scale datasets to draw inference and uncover broad patterns in host–parasite encounters at unprecedented spatial scales. Our results suggest that intraspecific variation in the movement ecology of hosts may affect host–parasite encounter rates and, ultimately, alter zoonotic disease risk through anthropogenic modifications and natural environmental conditions that alter host space use.

中文翻译：

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个体差异是大规模模式的基础：宿主条件和行为影响寄生


确定影响宿主-寄生虫相互作用的因素对于了解病媒传播疾病的生态学和动力学至关重要，并且可能是预测人类疾病风险的重要组成部分。宿主本身的特征（例如，身体状况、宿主行为、免疫防御）可能会影响寄生的可能性。然而，尽管野生种群的寄生虫和感染率差异很大，但事实证明，确定个体特征与寄生虫获取异质性之间的广泛联系具有挑战性，因为许多人畜共患病存在于广泛的地理范围内，并且在患病率以及个体和种群水平的影响方面表现出空间和时间异质性。使用美国国家生态观测站网络 （NEON） 收集的七年数据，我们检查了关键宿主物种白足鼠 Peromyscus leucopus 中硬蜱的个体宿主条件、行为和寄生之间的关系。我们发现个体状况，特别是性别、体重和生殖状况，对蜱虫的寄生有直接和间接的影响，但幼虫寄生和若虫蜱的这些影响的性质不同。我们还发现，条件差异会影响啮齿动物的行为，而行为直接影响寄生率，移动得更远的个体小鼠更有可能携带蜱虫。这项研究说明了如何使用大规模数据集检查个体层面的数据，以得出推断并在前所未有的空间尺度上揭示宿主与寄生虫相遇的广泛模式。 我们的结果表明，宿主运动生态学的种内变异可能会影响宿主-寄生虫的遭遇率，并最终通过改变宿主空间利用的人为改造和自然环境条件改变人畜共患疾病的风险。