Hosts as ecological traps for the vector of Lyme disease.
Vectors of infectious diseases are generally thought to be regulated by abiotic conditions such as climate or the availability of specific hosts or habitats. In this study we tested whether blacklegged ticks, the vectors of Lyme disease, granulocytic anaplasmosis and babesiosis can be regulated by the species of vertebrate hosts on which they obligately feed. By subjecting field-caught hosts to parasitism by larval blacklegged ticks, we found that some host species (e.g. opossums, squirrels) that are abundantly parasitized in nature kill 83-96% of the ticks that attempt to attach and feed, while other species are more permissive of tick feeding. Given natural tick burdens we document on these hosts, we show that some hosts can kill thousands of ticks per hectare. These results indicate that the abundance of tick vectors can be regulated by the identity of the hosts upon which these vectors feed. By simulating the removal of hosts from intact communities using empirical models, we show that the loss of biodiversity may exacerbate disease risk by increasing both vector numbers and vector infection rates with a zoonotic pathogen.
Keesing
F
F
Department of Biology, Bard College, Annandale, NY 12504, USA. keesing@bard.edu
Brunner
J
J
Duerr
S
S
Killilea
M
M
Logiudice
K
K
Schmidt
K
K
Vuong
H
H
Ostfeld
R S
RS
D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission*; D008322:Mammals / Q000469:parasitology*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D020308:Songbirds / Q000469:parasitology*
Proc Biol Sci. 2009 May 7;276(1662):1657-63
19203926
Environ Health Perspect. 2001 Mar;109 Suppl 1:141-61
11250812
J Med Entomol. 2001 Sep;38(5):646-56
11580037
Annu Rev Entomol. 2005;50:505-28
15471529
Ecology. 2006 May;87(5):1075-85
16761584
J Med Entomol. 1996 May;33(3):297-318
8667375
PLoS Biol. 2006 Jun;4(6):e145
16669698
J Parasitol. 1998 Feb;84(1):36-43
9488335
Ecology. 2008 Oct;89(10):2841-9
18959321
Arch Virol Suppl. 2005;(19):45-57
16355867
PLoS One. 2009;4(5):e5461
19421313
Science. 1993 Jun 11;260(5114):1610-6
8503006
Ecol Lett. 2006 Apr;9(4):485-98
16623733
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2007 Summer;7(2):173-80
17627435
Science. 2000 Sep 8;289(5485):1763-6
10976072
Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Jan 7;273(1582):109-17
16519242
Emerg Infect Dis. 2003 Mar;9(3):311-22
12643825
Annu Rev Entomol. 1991;36:587-609
2006870
Am J Epidemiol. 1996 Dec 1;144(11):1066-9
8942438
J Vector Ecol. 1999 Dec;24(2):182-6
10672547
J Parasitol. 1995 Dec;81(6):870-5
8544056
Environ Health Perspect. 2000 Feb;108(2):119-23
10656851
J Med Entomol. 2004 Jul;41(4):622-33
15311453
J Am Mosq Control Assoc. 2007;23(2 Suppl):265-75
17853611
Parasitology. 2005 Jun;130(Pt 6):661-8
15977903
Environ Health Perspect. 1995 May;103(5):458-64
7656875
Parasitology. 1979 Aug;79(1):141-56
542316
J Med Entomol. 2005 May;42(3):445-9
15962798
Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2003 Mar-Apr;97(2):129-32
14584362
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 May;74(5):772-8
16687679
Science. 2000 Jan 21;287(5452):443-9
10642539
Oecologia. 2009 Jan;158(4):699-708
18941794
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2003 Apr;68(4):447-52
12875294
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jan 21;100(2):567-71
12525705
J Med Entomol. 1996 Jan;33(1):90-5
8906910
Med Vet Entomol. 1993 Jul;7(3):243-58
8369559
Ecology. 2008 Aug;89(8):2259-72
18724736
J Med Entomol. 2005 Nov;42(6):974-80
16465737
Ecol Appl. 2008 Dec;18(8):2028-40
19263895
Trends Ecol Evol. 2004 Oct;19(10):535-44
16701319
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2008 Oct;79(4):535-40
18840740
PLoS One. 2008 Jun 25;3(6):e2488
18575599
J Med Entomol. 2005 May;42(3):285-94
15962776
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Dec;73(6):1031-7
16354808