Parasites as environmental bioindicators and climate-sensitive sentinels in arid ecosystems: a one health synthesis with a focus on Saudi Arabia
- 1Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU) , ,
- 2Department of Aquatic Animal Medicine and Management, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University , ,
- 3Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, King Faisal University , ,
Abstract
Parasites integrate environmental conditions across trophic levels and may therefore provide sensitive, mechanistically interpretable signals of ecosystem change. This narrative synthesis evaluates the potential of parasites and parasite communities as environmental bioindicators and climate-sensitive sentinels, with particular emphasis on arid ecosystems and Saudi Arabia. We integrate evidence from terrestrial, aquatic, marine, and zoonotic systems to examine how warming, drought, hydrological change, salinity, pollution, land-use transformation, and host-mediated vector movement influence parasite occurrence, transmission, phenology, community composition, and contaminant accumulation. The evidence supports two complementary bioindicator functions: accumulation indicators, in which parasites concentrate environmental contaminants, and effect indicators, in which parasite prevalence, phenology, richness, or community structure responds to environmental disturbance. Saudi marine systems provide particularly strong examples, including trace-metal accumulation by acanthocephalans and nematodes, community-level changes associated with habitat degradation, and seasonal transmission of Kudoa sp. in Priacanthus tayenus. Terrestrial and waterborne systems provide additional candidate signals through tick phenology and the distribution of Cryptosporidium and Giardia. However, the current evidence base is dominated by cross-sectional studies, heterogeneous diagnostic methods, and geographically fragmented datasets; consequently, parasites should be regarded as promising candidate sentinels rather than validated early-warning indicators. We identify priority research needs and propose a One Health surveillance architecture integrating standardised parasitological sampling, environmental and meteorological measurements, molecular identification, remote sensing, livestock-movement data, and multivariate community analysis. Long-term, coupled datasets will be essential to distinguish climate-driven signals from concurrent anthropogenic pressures and to translate parasite bioindication from an ecological concept into an operational monitoring tool for arid and peri-arid regions.
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BibTeX
@article{baghdadi2026parasites,
title = {{Parasites as environmental bioindicators and climate-sensitive sentinels in arid ecosystems: a one health synthesis with a focus on Saudi Arabia}},
author = {Hanadi B. Baghdadi and Mohamed Abdelsalam and Mohamed Abdo Rizk},
journal = {Frontiers in veterinary science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fvets.2026.1978111},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728167},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Parasites as environmental bioindicators and climate-sensitive sentinels in arid ecosystems: a one health synthesis with a focus on Saudi Arabia
AU - Hanadi B. Baghdadi
AU - Mohamed Abdelsalam
AU - Mohamed Abdo Rizk
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Frontiers in veterinary science
DO - 10.3389/fvets.2026.1978111
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13728167
AB - Parasites integrate environmental conditions across trophic levels and may therefore provide sensitive, mechanistically interpretable signals of ecosystem change. This narrative synthesis evaluates the potential of parasites and parasite communities as environmental bioindicators and climate-sensitive sentinels, with particular emphasis on arid ecosystems and Saudi Arabia. We integrate evidence from terrestrial, aquatic, marine, and zoonotic systems to examine how warming, drought, hydrological change, salinity, pollution, land-use transformation, and host-mediated vector movement influence parasite occurrence, transmission, phenology, community composition, and contaminant accumulation. The evidence supports two complementary bioindicator functions: accumulation indicators, in which parasites concentrate environmental contaminants, and effect indicators, in which parasite prevalence, phenology, richness, or community structure responds to environmental disturbance. Saudi marine systems provide particularly strong examples, including trace-metal accumulation by acanthocephalans and nematodes, community-level changes associated with habitat degradation, and seasonal transmission of Kudoa sp. in Priacanthus tayenus. Terrestrial and waterborne systems provide additional candidate signals through tick phenology and the distribution of Cryptosporidium and Giardia. However, the current evidence base is dominated by cross-sectional studies, heterogeneous diagnostic methods, and geographically fragmented datasets; consequently, parasites should be regarded as promising candidate sentinels rather than validated early-warning indicators. We identify priority research needs and propose a One Health surveillance architecture integrating standardised parasitological sampling, environmental and meteorological measurements, molecular identification, remote sensing, livestock-movement data, and multivariate community analysis. Long-term, coupled datasets will be essential to distinguish climate-driven signals from concurrent anthropogenic pressures and to translate parasite bioindication from an ecological concept into an operational monitoring tool for arid and peri-arid regions.
SN - 2297-1769
ER -