‘Biologically Degenerate, Ecologically Marginal’: Parasites as a Case Study in Societal Values Impacting Ecological Research

Since parasite ecology was first popularized in the late 1970s, researchers have identified and rejected many foundational assumptions about parasites that turned out to be erroneous. What explains the existence of so many erroneous assumptions about parasites and their neglect in mainstream 20th-century ecology, relative to ecologically similar organisms such as predators? We argue that longstanding negative societal values associated linguistically with parasites probably played some role in shaping negative scientific assumptions about parasites in a way different to other categories of natural enemies with different value associations. We review two examples where more recent research has corrected mistaken assumptions about parasites’ roles in ecosystems. In each case, we argue that cultural values may partially explain why earlier scientists opted not to explore hypotheses that framed parasites as powerful, important assets to their ecosystems.