Parasite load is a measure of the number and virulence of the parasites that a host organism harbours. Quantitative parasitology deals with measures to quantify parasite loads in samples of hosts and to make statistical comparisons of parasitism across host samples.
In evolutionary biology, parasite load has important implications for sexual selection and the evolution of sex, as well as Openness to experience
Famous quotes containing the words parasite and/or load:
“When the ivy has found its tower, when the delicate creeper has found its strong wall, we know how the parasite plants grow and prosper.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)
“Belief and love,—a believing love will relieve us of a vast load of care. O my brothers, God exists. There is a soul at the centre of nature, and over the will of every man, so that none of us can wrong the universe.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)