Factors influencing the distribution and activity of Dermacentor reticulatus (F.) ticks in an anthropopressure-unaffected area in central-eastern Poland
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2016, Vol 23, Issue 2
Abstract
[b]Introduction and objectives.[/b] Despite the increasing prevalence and significant role of D. reticulatus in pathogen transmission, the factors influencing its distribution and activity are still poorly known. The paper presents for the first time a study of the [i]D. reticulatus[/i] ecology in a protected area, in which the dependence of [i]D. reticulatus[/i] occurrence and activity on the ecological habitat type is analysed. [b]Materials and methods.[/b] Tick collection and environmental monitoring were conducted from March – November 2012 and 2014 in five ecologically-diverse habitats in the Polesie National Park of central-eastern Poland. [b]Results.[/b] The study shows that the most beneficial habitats for [i]D. reticulatus[/i] are provided by meadow ecosystems dominated by plants from the class Molinio-Arrhenatheretea: Poa pratensis, [i]P. trivialis[/i], [i]Festuca rubra[/i], [i]F. pratensis[/i], and [i]Alopecurcus pratensis[/i], as well as [i]Carex[/i] sp. sedges (64.78% of the tick collections). Less favourable conditions are offered by the fresh habitat covered by deciduous forest with dominance of [i]Betula[/i] sp., [i]A. pratensis[/i], and [i]Carex[/i] sp. sedges (15.27%), in the wet habitat dominated by [i]Alnus glutinosa[/i] and [i]Urtica dioica[/i] (9.00%), [i]Betula humilis[/i], [i]Salix[/i] sp., and[i] Carex[/i] sp. (8.44%), and in the subcontinental hornbeam forest [i]Tilio-Carpinetum[/i] with poor undergrowth (2.50%). [i]D. reticulatus[/i] avoids wet habitats with bog birch [i]Betuletum pubescientis[/i] communities and moist pine forest [i]Molinio-Pineteum[/i], as well as habitats dominated by heather [i]Calluna vulgaris[/i]. [b]Conclusions. [/b]The distribution and dynamics of the activity of adult [i]D. reticulatus[/i] depends on the biological and geoclimatic conditions prevailing in tick habitats. The structure of the flora colonising a habitat may be an indicator of the presence of this tick species.
Authors and Affiliations
Zbigniew Zając, Bartosik Katarzyna, Alicja Buczek
Keywords
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- EP ID EP79351
- DOI 10.5604/12321966.1203889
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