Deer presence rather than abundance determines the population density of the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus, in Dutch forests

Background Understanding which factors drive population densities of disease vectors is an important step in assessing disease risk. We tested the hypothesis that the density of ticks from the Ixodes ricinus complex, which are important vectors for tick-borne diseases, is determined by the density o...

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Vydané v:	Parasites & vectors Ročník 10; číslo 1; s. 433
Hlavní autori:	Hofmeester, Tim R., Sprong, Hein, Jansen, Patrick A., Prins, Herbert H. T., van Wieren, Sipke E.
Médium:	Journal Article
Jazyk:	English
Vydavateľské údaje:	London BioMed Central 19.09.2017 BioMed Central Ltd Springer Nature B.V BMC
Predmet:	Abundance Acari Adults Animals Arachnid Vectors - growth & development Arachnids Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedicine Borrelia burgdorferi Cameras Capreolus capreolus Cervus elaphus Climate change Cross-Sectional Studies Dama dama Deer Deer management Disease Diseases Distribution Entomology Forests Hard ticks Health aspects Health risks Host-parasite relationships hosts Infectious Diseases Ixodes - growth & development Ixodes ricinus Ixodidae Medical research Netherlands Nymphs Ovis aries Parasitology Parks & recreation areas Passage rate Pinus sylvestris Population Density Reproduction host Risk Seasons Sheep Small mammals Species richness Studies Tick density Tick-borne diseases Ticks Tropical Medicine Vectors Vegetation Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science Virology Netherlands Passage rate Deer management Reproduction host Tick density Cervus elaphus Dama dama Capreolus capreolus
ISSN:	1756-3305, 1756-3305
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Shrnutí:	Background Understanding which factors drive population densities of disease vectors is an important step in assessing disease risk. We tested the hypothesis that the density of ticks from the Ixodes ricinus complex, which are important vectors for tick-borne diseases, is determined by the density of deer, as adults of these ticks mainly feed on deer. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate I. ricinus density across 20 forest plots in the Netherlands that ranged widely in deer availability to ticks, and performed a deer-exclosure experiment in four pairs of 1 ha forest plots in a separate site. Results Ixodes ricinus from all stages were more abundant in plots with deer ( n = 17) than in plots without deer ( n = 3). Where deer were present, the density of ticks did not increase with the abundance of deer. Experimental exclosure of deer reduced nymph density by 66% and adult density by 32% within a timeframe of two years. Conclusions In this study, deer presence rather than abundance explained the density of I. ricinus . This is in contrast to previous studies and might be related to the relatively high host-species richness in Dutch forests. This means that reduction of the risk of acquiring a tick bite would require the complete elimination of deer in species rich forests. The fact that small exclosures (< 1 ha) substantially reduced I. ricinus densities suggests that fencing can be used to reduce tick-borne disease risk in areas with high recreational pressure.
Bibliografia:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23
ISSN:	1756-3305 1756-3305
DOI:	10.1186/s13071-017-2370-7