Project description
Understanding the effects of climate change on parasitic organisms
Parasites are found in all living organisms, most often being host-specific and infecting only one or a few different host species. Yet, recent observations suggest that some parasites are able to infect a broader host range under specific conditions. This ability could be facilitated by a changing climate. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SWITCH project will investigate the effects of global warming and climate-driven disturbances on parasites and their ability to broaden their host range. SWITCH will perform experiments with trematode parasites in the warming sub-Arctic intertidal zone to provide novel data and insights on host-switching in a changing world.
Objective
All living organisms have parasites. Many parasites are host-specific and only infect a few, or even a single, suitable host species. Yet parasites retain a hidden capacity to infect broader host ranges under certain conditions, which may be activated by climate change. Coastal zones are especially vulnerable to climate-driven disturbances but it remains unknown how these changes will influence parasite specificity in intertidal ecosystems. This knowledge gap must be urgently addressed, considering the vital ecosystem services coastal zones provide. The ideal model system for this task is trematodes—parasites with complex life cycles that are exceptionally specific to their first intermediate hosts, yet have experienced multiple host-switching events in their evolution.
The goal of SWITCH is to assess the potential of trematode parasites to colonize new first intermediate hosts in the warming sub-Arctic intertidal. I will start by estimating the current richness of trematode communities in the intermediate (gastropods) and definitive (coastal birds) hosts along the Northern Norwegian coastline. To do so, I will use morphological and DNA identification techniques for trematodes from gastropods (objective 1), and non-invasive faecal sampling and DNA-metabarcoding for trematodes from birds (objective 2). With input from these two objectives, I will experimentally test (objective 3) how and to what extent temperature variation affects the ability of trematodes to establish in alternative first intermediate host species by quantifying infection outcomes under conditions simulating global warming.
Together, this novel approach will provide the first comprehensive assessment of host specificity and host-switching potential in sub-Arctic coastal systems. The findings will advance fundamental understanding of host–parasite interactions under climate change and inform environmental monitoring, biodiversity management, and aquaculture policy in European coastal regions.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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9019 Tromso
Norway
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