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Nematomorph parasites indirectly alter the food web and ecosystem function of streams through behavioural manipulation of their cricket hosts

Overview of attention for article published in Ecology Letters, May 2012
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (99th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
10 news outlets
blogs
1 blog
twitter
35 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

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130 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
264 Mendeley
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Title
Nematomorph parasites indirectly alter the food web and ecosystem function of streams through behavioural manipulation of their cricket hosts
Published in
Ecology Letters, May 2012
DOI 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01798.x
Pubmed ID
Authors

Takuya Sato, Tomohiro Egusa, Keitaro Fukushima, Tomoki Oda, Nobuhito Ohte, Naoko Tokuchi, Katsutoshi Watanabe, Minoru Kanaiwa, Isaya Murakami, Kevin D. Lafferty

Abstract

Nematomorph parasites manipulate crickets to enter streams where the parasites reproduce. These manipulated crickets become a substantial food subsidy for stream fishes. We used a field experiment to investigate how this subsidy affects the stream community and ecosystem function. When crickets were available, predatory fish ate fewer benthic invertebrates. The resulting release of the benthic invertebrate community from fish predation indirectly decreased the biomass of benthic algae and slightly increased leaf break-down rate. This is the first experimental demonstration that host manipulation by a parasite can reorganise a community and alter ecosystem function. Nematomorphs are common, and many other parasites have dramatic effects on host phenotypes, suggesting that similar effects of parasites on ecosystems might be widespread.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 35 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 264 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 6 2%
South Africa 3 1%
France 2 <1%
Germany 2 <1%
Japan 2 <1%
Brazil 1 <1%
Canada 1 <1%
New Zealand 1 <1%
Mexico 1 <1%
Other 5 2%
Unknown 240 91%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 55 21%
Researcher 52 20%
Student > Bachelor 38 14%
Student > Master 29 11%
Professor 14 5%
Other 40 15%
Unknown 36 14%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 126 48%
Environmental Science 57 22%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 11 4%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 6 2%
Nursing and Health Professions 3 1%
Other 17 6%
Unknown 44 17%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 105. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 16 January 2023.
All research outputs
#400,954
of 25,381,864 outputs
Outputs from Ecology Letters
#171
of 3,109 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,795
of 170,156 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Ecology Letters
#1
of 52 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,381,864 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,109 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 29.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 170,156 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 52 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.