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Relationships among hosts, habitats, and ticks throughout Alabama


Metadata FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributorEmily Merritt, em23merr@gmail.comen_US
dc.coverage.spatialAlabamaen_US
dc.coverage.temporalJune 2015 to December 2017en_US
dc.creatorMerritt, Emily
dc.creatorLockaby, Graeme
dc.creatorMathias, Derrick
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-18T18:59:59Z
dc.date.available2018-04-18T18:59:59Z
dc.date.created2018-03-05
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11200/49134
dc.description.abstractTicks are the foremost parasites of wildlife and humans in the United States, and may transmit pathogens associated with Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, spotted fever Rickettsiosis, and others. Despite the high occurrence of several species of ticks throughout Alabama, little is known about their distribution or the degree to which they carry pathogens. Consequently, the probability of encountering infected ticks in the state is unknown. For this project, we environmental and climatic factors that affect tick and pathogen distribution and risk, and determined relationships among habitats, ticks, pathogens, and hosts. Ticks were trapped for one year (5/16-5/17) on 105 plots in deciduous, coniferous, pasture, early successional, and residential areas throughout Alabama. Hourly forest floor temperature and relative humidity were recorded on the same sites. In preliminary pathogen screenings, minimum infection rates in lone star ticks ranged from 0% to 3% for Ehrlichia spp. and 17% to 49% for Rickettsia amblyommii. Interestingly, the minimum infection rate of Rickettsia parkeri in Gulf coast ticks was 18%, and no ticks tested positive for Borrelia spp. Additionally, during the summers of 2015 to 2017, 762 ticks were collected from 125 white-tailed deer in 19 counties, and 3,302 ticks were collected from 626 deer on 12 Wildlife Management Areas during two successive winters from 2015-2017. Pathogen screening for these samples is in progress. Preliminary analyses show that across all locations and land uses, minimum and range of humidity and temperature are the primary drivers of overall tick abundance, and forest floor characteristics and sandy soils have significant effects. Additionally, while only 11% (n=61) of ticks captured on traps were black-legged ticks, 88% (n=2,894) were collected from deer between November to February, elucidating a deer’s critical role in their survival and movement, and suggesting traditional sampling methods for this species are ineffective in the Southeast.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.relation.ispartofEntomological Society of America, Southeastern Branchen_US
dc.rights(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcodeen_US
dc.subjectTicksen_US
dc.subjectTick-borne illnessen_US
dc.subjectAmblyomma americanumen_US
dc.subjectDermicentor variabilisen_US
dc.subjectIxodes scapularisen_US
dc.subjectAmblyomma maculatumen_US
dc.subjecttick-borne diseaseen_US
dc.subjectAlabamaen_US
dc.subjectcarbon dioxide trapen_US
dc.subjectEhrlichia chaffeensisen_US
dc.subjectEhrlichia ewingiien_US
dc.subjectRickettsia parkerien_US
dc.subjectRickettsia amblyommiien_US
dc.subjectwhite-tailed deeren_US
dc.subjectRaccoonen_US
dc.subjectferal hog/swineen_US
dc.subjecttick-borne pathogenen_US
dc.subjecthosten_US
dc.subjecthabitaten_US
dc.subjectGulf coast ticken_US
dc.subjectLone star ticken_US
dc.subjectBlack legged ticken_US
dc.subjectAmerican dog ticken_US
dc.titleRelationships among hosts, habitats, and ticks throughout Alabamaen_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genrePresentation, Poster Presentationen_US
dc.description.statusAnalyses in progressen_US
dc.description.peerreviewNoen_US
dc.locationOrlando, Floridaen_US

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