Cargando…
Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA
Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis Say) are the vector for pathogens that cause more cases of human disease than any other arthropod. Lyme disease is the most common, caused by the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt, and Brenner) in the northeastern Unite...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2019
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723576/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31366124 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10080227 |
_version_ | 1783448801506230272 |
---|---|
author | Linske, Megan A. Stafford, Kirby C. Williams, Scott C. Lubelczyk, Charles B. Welch, Margret Henderson, Elizabeth F. |
author_facet | Linske, Megan A. Stafford, Kirby C. Williams, Scott C. Lubelczyk, Charles B. Welch, Margret Henderson, Elizabeth F. |
author_sort | Linske, Megan A. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis Say) are the vector for pathogens that cause more cases of human disease than any other arthropod. Lyme disease is the most common, caused by the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt, and Brenner) in the northeastern United States. Further knowledge of seasonal effects on survival is important for management and modeling of both blacklegged ticks and tick-borne diseases. The focus of our study was on the impact of environmental factors on overwintering success of nymphal blacklegged ticks. In a three-year field study conducted in Connecticut and Maine, we determined that ground-level conditions play an important role in unfed nymphal overwintering survival. Ticks in plots where leaf litter and snow accumulation were unmanipulated had significantly greater survival compared to those where leaf litter was removed (p = 0.045) and where both leaf litter and snow were removed (p = 0.008). Additionally, we determined that the key overwintering predictors for nymphal blacklegged tick survival were the mean and mean minimum temperatures within a year. The findings of this research can be utilized in both small- and large-scale management of blacklegged ticks to potentially reduce the risk and occurrence of tick-borne diseases. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6723576 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-67235762019-09-10 Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA Linske, Megan A. Stafford, Kirby C. Williams, Scott C. Lubelczyk, Charles B. Welch, Margret Henderson, Elizabeth F. Insects Article Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis Say) are the vector for pathogens that cause more cases of human disease than any other arthropod. Lyme disease is the most common, caused by the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt, and Brenner) in the northeastern United States. Further knowledge of seasonal effects on survival is important for management and modeling of both blacklegged ticks and tick-borne diseases. The focus of our study was on the impact of environmental factors on overwintering success of nymphal blacklegged ticks. In a three-year field study conducted in Connecticut and Maine, we determined that ground-level conditions play an important role in unfed nymphal overwintering survival. Ticks in plots where leaf litter and snow accumulation were unmanipulated had significantly greater survival compared to those where leaf litter was removed (p = 0.045) and where both leaf litter and snow were removed (p = 0.008). Additionally, we determined that the key overwintering predictors for nymphal blacklegged tick survival were the mean and mean minimum temperatures within a year. The findings of this research can be utilized in both small- and large-scale management of blacklegged ticks to potentially reduce the risk and occurrence of tick-borne diseases. MDPI 2019-07-30 /pmc/articles/PMC6723576/ /pubmed/31366124 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10080227 Text en © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Linske, Megan A. Stafford, Kirby C. Williams, Scott C. Lubelczyk, Charles B. Welch, Margret Henderson, Elizabeth F. Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title | Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title_full | Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title_fullStr | Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title_full_unstemmed | Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title_short | Impacts of Deciduous Leaf Litter and Snow Presence on Nymphal Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Overwintering Survival in Coastal New England, USA |
title_sort | impacts of deciduous leaf litter and snow presence on nymphal ixodes scapularis (acari: ixodidae) overwintering survival in coastal new england, usa |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6723576/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31366124 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects10080227 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT linskemegana impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa AT staffordkirbyc impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa AT williamsscottc impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa AT lubelczykcharlesb impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa AT welchmargret impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa AT hendersonelizabethf impactsofdeciduousleaflitterandsnowpresenceonnymphalixodesscapularisacariixodidaeoverwinteringsurvivalincoastalnewenglandusa |