From mechanism to ecosystem: building bridges between ecoimmunology, psychoneuroimmunology and disease ecology

Abstract

ABSTRACT Historically, the fields of ecoimmunology, psychoneuroimmunology and disease ecology have taken complementary yet disparate theoretical and experimental approaches, despite sharing critical common themes. Researchers in these areas have largely worked independently of one another to understand mechanistic immunological responses, organismal level immune performance, behavioral changes, and host and parasite/disease population dynamics, with few bridges across disciplines. Although efforts to strengthen and expand these bridges have been called for (and occasionally heeded) over the last decade, more integrative studies are only now beginning to emerge, with critical gaps remaining. Here, we briefly discuss the origins of these key fields, and their current state of integration, while highlighting several critical directions that we suggest will strengthen their connections into the future. Specifically, we highlight three key research areas that provide collaborative opportunities for integrative investigation across multiple levels of biological organization, from mechanisms to ecosystems: (1) parental effects of immunity, (2) microbiome and immune function and (3) sickness behaviors. By building new bridges among these fields, and strengthening existing ones, a truly integrative approach to understanding the role of host immunity on individual and community fitness is within our grasp.