Including parasites in food webs.

Growing evidence indicates parasite inclusion in food-web analyses is a logical default. Comparisons of food webs including and excluding host-parasite interactions demonstrate the influence of parasites on community dynamics. Although including parasites is undoubtedly informative, the necessary level of detail exists for only a handful of systems. In a recent Ecology Letters article, Lafferty et al. pose many good questions to catalyze discussions for determining when and how parasites should be incorporated into food-web analyses.