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LOCALIZED DEER ABSENCE LEADS TO TICK AMPLIFICATION
Author(s) -
Perkins Sarah E.,
Cattadori Isabella M.,
Tagliapietra Valentina,
Rizzoli Annapaola P.,
Hudson Peter J.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1981:ldaltt]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - ecology , tick , tick borne disease , biology , geography
Deer support high tick intensities, perpetuating tick populations, but they do not support tick‐borne pathogen transmission, so are dilution hosts. We test the hypothesis that absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) will result in either an increase or a reduction in tick density, and that the outcome is scale dependent. We use a complementary methodological approach starting with meta‐analysis, followed up by a field experiment. Meta‐analysis indicated that larger deer exclosures reduce questing (host‐seeking) tick density, but as the exclosure becomes smaller (<2.5 ha) the questing tick density is increased (amplified). To determine the consequences for tick‐borne pathogen transmission we carried out a field experiment, comparing the intensity of ticks that fed on hosts competent for tick‐borne pathogen transmission (rodents) in two small (<1 ha) deer exclosures and their replicated controls. Intensity of larval ticks on rodents was not significantly different between treatments, but nymph intensity, the tick stage responsible for tick‐borne encephalitis (TBE) transmission, was higher in deer exclosures. TBE seropositive rodents were found in a deer exclosure but not in the controls. We propose that localized absence of deer (loss of a dilution host) increases tick feeding on rodents, leading to the potential for tick‐borne disease hotspots.