UBC Math Bio Seminar: Ben Ashby

Host–parasite interactions often resemble an evolutionary arms race, where each side must continually adapt just to keep up. These dynamics can produce oscillations in allele frequencies—often called Red Queen dynamics—that are a hallmark of host–parasite coevolution. Despite their prominence, we still have an incomplete understanding of how they influence broader evolutionary outcomes. Much of the existing theory has focused on their role in the evolution of sex and recombination, leaving their consequences for other life-history traits largely unexplored. In this talk, I will explore the mechanisms that generate coevolutionary cycles and the role of eco-evolutionary feedbacks in shaping them. I will then discuss how these cycles influence the evolution of parasite virulence.