Behavioral Competence: How Host Behaviors Can Interact to Influence Parasite Transmission Risk

Hosts vary in their ability to transmit new parasite infections (i.e. competence). Although behavior is suggested as a source of individual-level variation, the contribution of host behavior to host-parasite dynamics at the population-level remains largely enigmatic. Here we advocate that behavioral competence be characterized as a syndrome of behaviors that interact to directly or indirectly influence transmission potential. These behaviors can be plastic in response to environmental conditions and/or infection state, and appear linked to immunological traits through shared physiological regulation. By integrating behavioral variation and covariation into a whole-organism view of host competence, disease ecologists might more realistically characterize an individual\u27s role in host-parasite systems