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Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Planting wildflowers is a commonly used tool to conserve pollinators. However, it is possible that wildflower plantings may inadvertently aid tick species, complicating both vector control and pollinator conservation programs. In this study, we tested whether conservation wildflower...

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Autores principales: McCullough, Christopher, Angelella, Gina, O’Rourke, Megan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7563295/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32917048
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11090617
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author McCullough, Christopher
Angelella, Gina
O’Rourke, Megan
author_facet McCullough, Christopher
Angelella, Gina
O’Rourke, Megan
author_sort McCullough, Christopher
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Planting wildflowers is a commonly used tool to conserve pollinators. However, it is possible that wildflower plantings may inadvertently aid tick species, complicating both vector control and pollinator conservation programs. In this study, we tested whether conservation wildflower plantings enhanced the on-farm abundance of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.). Over two years, A. americanum were sampled using dry ice traps in wildflower plots, weedy field margins, and forested areas. We found no more A. americanum in wildflower plots than in weedy field margins. Forested areas harbored the greatest number of A. americanum sampled. Overall, wildflower plots do not pose an increased risk of exposure to A. americanum on farms. ABSTRACT: Planting wildflowers is a commonly suggested measure to conserve pollinators. While beneficial for pollinators, plots of wildflowers may be inadvertently performing an ecosystem disservice by providing a suitable habitat for arthropod disease vectors like ticks. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), is a medically important tick species that might be able to utilize wildflower plantings as a suitable habitat. In this two-year study, ticks were sampled using dry ice baited traps from wildflower plots, weedy field margins, and forested areas to determine if wildflower plantings were increasing the on-farm abundance of A. americanum. Abiotic and biotic environmental variables were also measured to better understand which factors affect A. americanum abundance. We found no more A. americanum in wildflower plots than in weedy field margins. Forested areas harbored the greatest number of A. americanum sampled. The height of the vegetation in the sampled habitats was a significant factor in determining A. americanum abundance. Depending on the sampled habitat and life stage, this relationship can be positive or negative. The relationship with vegetation height may be related to the behavior of the white-tailed deer and the questing success of A. americanum. Overall, wildflower plots do not pose an increased risk of exposure to A. americanum on farms.
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spelling pubmed-75632952020-10-27 Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae) McCullough, Christopher Angelella, Gina O’Rourke, Megan Insects Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: Planting wildflowers is a commonly used tool to conserve pollinators. However, it is possible that wildflower plantings may inadvertently aid tick species, complicating both vector control and pollinator conservation programs. In this study, we tested whether conservation wildflower plantings enhanced the on-farm abundance of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.). Over two years, A. americanum were sampled using dry ice traps in wildflower plots, weedy field margins, and forested areas. We found no more A. americanum in wildflower plots than in weedy field margins. Forested areas harbored the greatest number of A. americanum sampled. Overall, wildflower plots do not pose an increased risk of exposure to A. americanum on farms. ABSTRACT: Planting wildflowers is a commonly suggested measure to conserve pollinators. While beneficial for pollinators, plots of wildflowers may be inadvertently performing an ecosystem disservice by providing a suitable habitat for arthropod disease vectors like ticks. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), is a medically important tick species that might be able to utilize wildflower plantings as a suitable habitat. In this two-year study, ticks were sampled using dry ice baited traps from wildflower plots, weedy field margins, and forested areas to determine if wildflower plantings were increasing the on-farm abundance of A. americanum. Abiotic and biotic environmental variables were also measured to better understand which factors affect A. americanum abundance. We found no more A. americanum in wildflower plots than in weedy field margins. Forested areas harbored the greatest number of A. americanum sampled. The height of the vegetation in the sampled habitats was a significant factor in determining A. americanum abundance. Depending on the sampled habitat and life stage, this relationship can be positive or negative. The relationship with vegetation height may be related to the behavior of the white-tailed deer and the questing success of A. americanum. Overall, wildflower plots do not pose an increased risk of exposure to A. americanum on farms. MDPI 2020-09-09 /pmc/articles/PMC7563295/ /pubmed/32917048 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11090617 Text en © 2020 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
McCullough, Christopher
Angelella, Gina
O’Rourke, Megan
Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title_full Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title_fullStr Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title_full_unstemmed Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title_short Conservation Wildflower Plantings Do Not Enhance On-Farm Abundance of Amblyomma americanum (Ixodida: Ixodidae)
title_sort conservation wildflower plantings do not enhance on-farm abundance of amblyomma americanum (ixodida: ixodidae)
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7563295/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32917048
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11090617
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