Stochastic spatial models of host-pathogen and host-mutualist interactions. I (Q2494588)

A symbiont is an organism that lives in close association with a host. According to their impact on the host, symbionts are classified into mutualists, which have beneficial effect, and pathogens, which are harmful. The present paper develops a spatially explicit stochastic model for describing the role of spatial structure caused by local interactions on the persistence of host-symbiont associations in multihost, multisymbiont models. Relying on the voter model, host population dynamics is studied on a lattice as a function of symbiont specificity and transmissibility. The model predicts that pathogens can significantly alter the spatial structure of plant communities by promoting local diversity, whereas mutualists do not alter the spatial structure of their hosts. The effectiveness of symbionts is shown to increase with their degree of specificity.