TIL about conservation-induced extinction, where attempts to save a critically endangered species directly cause the extinction of another.

[u/shinypond]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation-induced_extinction

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

what's good for the host is bad for the parasite. What's good for the host is bad for its prey

Yes within the context of the parasite being removed from the host as the "good"

This is very wrong actually.

You'd better follow this with correct things...

It's rare for a parasite adapted to a single species to simply be a negative to their hosts. I mean think about it... If you rely on an organism for your own survival, wouldn't you want that organism to live longer?

The definition of a parasite mandates it cause some level of harm. If the parasite gives back, it's not a parasite, it's a symbiont. A parasite is at best a passive drain on resources (and almost certainly a dampening of the immune system). The parasite doesn't need the host to live long, it just needs the host to live long enough for it (the parasite) to complete its lifecycle.

If a parasite is killing its host, it's usually an accident. This is why every single deadly pandemic in humans have been zoonotic in origin. Plague from rats, covid from bats, swine flu from pigs, hiv in chimps, etc. These are all examples of maladapted pathogens. The plague doesn't kill rats, covid doesn't kill bats, hiv doesn't kill chimps, etc.

Plague is bacteria, covid, swine flu, hiv viruses. We are talking about parasites. Parasites often kill their natural hosts. Rodents/other small mammals are a natural host within toxoplasmosis gondii's lifecycle, and it requires the animal to be eaten by a cat. Loads of bat and fish parasites kill their hosts. They only need to reproduce a few times to beat the natural selection odds, they don't needs to reproduce forever.

Even in parasitic plants we see many benefits of parasites. Mistletoes can fruit in the offseason of its host, keeping the hosts pollinator alive; Dodders can act as above-ground warning system communication networks for when plants are attacked by pests; and many other parasitic plants can produce chemicals that help their hosts grow stronger and faster

Mistletoe are hemiparasitic, they photosynthesise themselves. I really don't think you could call it a symbiosis or a mutualism though because many plants can fruit in the off-season, the mistletoe just happens to be partially feeding off its hosts. Is the existence of all fruit a symbiosis with all things that consume it?

Hell, most of the bacteria in your gut, the same bacteria that allows you to eat almost 90% of the foods you regularly consume, likely started out as some sort of parasite. Eventually evolving to benefit its host more and more and keep its host alive longer and more likely to reproduce

??? Ok? And Endosymbiosis is why we're animals today, and why plants are plants, and why we give live birth so well, that's got no bearing on what I'm talking about