Data from: Experimental parasite community ecology: intraspecific variation in a large tapeworm affects community assembly

Non-random species associations occur in naturally-sampled parasite
communities. The processes resulting in predictable community structure
(e.g. particular host behaviours, cross-immunity, interspecific
competition) could be affected by traits that vary within a parasite
species, like growth or antigenicity. We experimentally infected
three-spined sticklebacks with a large tapeworm (Schistocephalus solidus)
that impacts the energy needs, foraging behaviour, and immune reactions of
its host. The tapeworms came from two populations, characterized by high
or low growth in sticklebacks. Our goal was to evaluate how this parasite,
and variation in its growth, affects the acquisition of other parasites.
Fish infected with S. solidus were placed into cages in a lake to expose
them to the natural parasite community. We also performed a lab experiment
in which infected fish were exposed to a fixed dose of a common trematode
parasite. In the field experiment, infection with S. solidus affected the
abundance of four parasite species, relative to controls. For two of the
four species, changes occurred only in fish harbouring the high-growth S.
solidus; one species increased in abundance and the other decreased. These
changes did not appear to be directly linked to S. solidus growth though.
The parasite exhibiting elevated abundance was the same trematode used in
the lab infection. In that experiment, we found a similar infection
pattern, suggesting that S. solidus affects the physiological
susceptibility of fish to this trematode. Associations between S. solidus
and other parasites occur and vary in direction. However, some of these
associations were contingent on the S. solidus population, suggesting that
intraspecific variability can affect the assembly of parasite communities.