Blacklegged tick population synchrony between oak forest and non‐oak forest

Borgmann-Winter, Benjamin W; Oggenfuss, Kelly; Ostfeld, Richard S.

doi:10.1111/een.13019

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Changes in climatic conditions, such as precipitation, snow, or vegetation, may also impact the movements and poleward range expansions of mammal hosts, altering the abundance and distribution of I. scapularis (Diuk‐Wasser et al., 2021 ; Ogden & Lindsay, 2016 ). Small mammal hosts may disperse short distances searching for food resources, such as acorns or seed crops, in nearby forested areas, which may result in fluctuations of local tick populations (Borgmann‐Winter et al., 2021 ; Marrotte et al., 2017 ; Sullivan et al., 2023 ). The summer following high abundances of acorns or other seed crops have been associated with higher abundances and greater overwintering survival in Peromyscus mice, resulting in a lagged increase in I. scapularis abundance (Falls et al., 2007 ; Ostfeld et al., 2018 ; Sullivan et al., 2023 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Small mammal hosts may disperse short distances searching for food resources, such as acorns or seed crops, in nearby forested areas, which may result in fluctuations of local tick populations (Borgmann-Winter et al, 2021;Marrotte et al, 2017;Sullivan et al, 2023). The summer following high abundances of acorns or other seed crops have been associated with higher abundances and greater overwintering survival in Peromyscus mice, resulting in a lagged increase in I. scapularis abundance (Falls et al, 2007;Ostfeld et al, 2018;Sullivan et al, 2023).…”

Section: Impacts Of Abiotic Factors On Tick and Host Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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High‐resolution environmental and host‐related factors impacting questing Ixodes scapularis at their northern range edge

Crandall,

Millien,

Kerr

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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The geographic range of tick populations has expanded in Canada due to climate warming and the associated poleward range shifts of their vertebrate hosts. Abiotic factors, such as temperature, precipitation, and snow, are known to directly affect tick abundance. Yet, biotic factors, such as the abundance and diversity of mammal hosts, may also alter tick abundance and consequent tick‐borne disease risk. Here, we incorporated host surveillance data with high‐resolution environmental data to evaluate the combined impact of abiotic and biotic factors on questing Ixodes scapularis abundance in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. High‐resolution abiotic factors were derived from remote sensing satellites and meteorological towers, while biotic factors related to mammal hosts were derived from active surveillance data that we collected in the field. Generalized additive models were used to determine the relative importance of abiotic and biotic factors on questing I. scapularis abundance. Combinations of abiotic and biotic factors were identified as important drivers of abundances of questing I. scapularis. Positive and negative linear relationships were found for questing I. scapularis abundance with monthly mean precipitation and accumulated snow, but no effect was found for the relative abundance of white‐footed mice. Positive relationships were also identified between questing I. scapularis abundance with monthly mean precipitation and mammal species richness. Therefore, future studies that assess I. scapularis should incorporate host surveillance data with high‐resolution environmental factors to determine the key drivers impacting the abundance and geographic spread of tick populations and tick‐borne pathogens.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impacts Of Abiotic Factors On Tick and Host Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐resolution environmental and host‐related factors impacting questing Ixodes scapularis at their northern range edge

Crandall,

Millien,

Kerr

2024

Ecology and Evolution

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“…To determine if bobwhite and cotton rats consistently synchronize at each site, across the region, and through time we used concordance as a proxy for relative synchrony or the coincident population fluctuations (Gouhier and Guichard, 2014;Borgmann-Winter et al, 2021) of bobwhite and cotton rats. We measured concordance with a Kendall's W test of concordance (kendall.global function) in the vegan package (Oksanen et al, 2013) in R (R Core Team, 2021).…”

Section: Synchrony Of Cotton Rats and Bobwhitementioning

confidence: 99%

Trophic interactions between primary consumers appear to weaken during periods of synchrony

et al. 2023

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Our understanding of synchrony between populations from different taxonomic groups has been centered on predator–prey dynamics in simple systems but has rarely been examined in complex predator–prey systems. In addition to trophic interactions such as predator–prey dynamics, there is some evidence that exogenous factor such as climatic variation may facilitate synchrony between different taxonomic groups. Using three longitudinal datasets on quail (Colinus virginianus) and cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) we examined 1) the consistency of synchrony across time and space, 2) the relative influence of trophic interactions vs. exogenous factors on synchrony and 3) if trophic interactions were positively associated with synchrony between populations. We found evidence of consistent synchrony in cotton rat and bobwhite populations at both the site and regional levels. We found that trophic interactions between cotton rats and bobwhite were associated with relative synchrony between these populations, but these interactions appeared to weaken in years of greater synchrony. We did not find evidence that exogenous factors influenced relative synchrony at the regional level. Given the lack of a clear mechanistic explanation of the patterns observed in our data, we propose an alternative climate-mediated predation framework to explain synchrony in complex predator–prey systems. This framework includes both classic bottom-up theories of regulation while integrating trophic interactions via components of the shared predator hypothesis.

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A Geographic Information System Approach to Map Tick Exposure Risk at a Scale for Public Health Intervention

Baldwin

Landesman

Borgmann-Winter

et al. 2021

Journal of Medical Entomology

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Tick-borne disease control and prevention have been largely ineffective compared to the control of other vector-borne diseases. Although control strategies exist, they are costly or ineffective at large spatial scales. We need tools to target these strategies to places of highest tick exposure risk. Here we present a geographic information system (GIS) method for mapping predicted tick exposure risk at a 200 m by 200 m resolution, appropriate for public health intervention. We followed the approach used to map tick habitat suitability over large areas. We used drag-cloth sampling to measure the density of nymphal blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis, Say (Acari: Ixodidae)) at 24 sites in Addison and Rutland Counties, VT, United States. We used a GIS to average habitat, climatological, land-use/land-cover, and abiotic characteristics over 100 m, 400 m, 1,000 m, and 2,000 m buffers around each site to evaluate which characteristic at which buffer size best predicted density of nymphal ticks (DON). The relationships between predictor variables and DON were determined with random forest models. The 100 m buffer model performed best and explained 37.7% of the variation in DON, although was highly accurate at classifying sites as having below or above average DON. This model was applied to Addison County, VT, to predict tick exposure risk at a 200 m resolution. This GIS approach to map predicted DON over a small area with fine resolution, could be used to target public health campaigns and land management practices to reduce human exposure to ticks.

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Blacklegged tick population synchrony between oak forest and non‐oak forest

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

High‐resolution environmental and host‐related factors impacting questing Ixodes scapularis at their northern range edge

High‐resolution environmental and host‐related factors impacting questing Ixodes scapularis at their northern range edge

Trophic interactions between primary consumers appear to weaken during periods of synchrony

A Geographic Information System Approach to Map Tick Exposure Risk at a Scale for Public Health Intervention

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