Data from: Parasite-mediated changes in host traits alter food web dynamics

Parasites commonly alter the phenotype of their host, thereby influencing
competitive and consumer-resource interactions. This could trigger a
cascade effect on the dynamics of biological communities, but the role of
parasites in ecosystem processes is poorly understood. In this study, we
investigate how parasite-induced trait modifications shape the dynamics of
a complex lake food web using an allometric trophic network model (ATN).
We simulated infections of stage-structured fish host populations via
increased maintenance costs and predation risk. Our results show that host
trait modifications can significantly impact host demography, with
stage-specific biomass declines up to 60%. However, less severely affected
host stages buffered these effects and sustained the population.
Importantly, host biomass decline altered the dynamics of species
interactions and these effects cascaded through the entire community, with
biomass changes observed at all trophic levels. Our findings emphasize the
importance of incorporating both indirect parasite effects and host life
history in ecological network studies for more realistic simulations of
community dynamics.