Comment on Titcomb et al. 's ‘Interacting effects of wildlife loss and climate on ticks and tick-borne disease'

What explains tick proliferation following large-herbivore exclusion?

“…We agree with Esser et al [3] and Buck & Perkins [4] that rodents almost certainly import immature ticks across plot boundaries, and that this effect is probably most pronounced at plot edges. To fully explain our results, however, this would require very large numbers of plot-crossing rodents and/or very high densities of ticks per rodent.…”

“…Ultimately, a conclusive test of both our hypothesis and the hypotheses outlined by Esser et al [3] and Buck & Perkins [4] (both of which might have contributed to our results) will require further research-ideally combining theoretical, experimental and large-scale comparative approaches to tease out the effects of spatial scale on tick populations and disease dynamics. This exchange highlights the need to define the scale(s) at which we discuss conservation, as well as the importance of scale in understanding conservation-disease relationships.…”

“…Esser et al [3] also stress the importance of sampling all life stages, both on and off hosts, to better understand tick population dynamics. We agree that this would provide greater clarity and would enable more robust tests of our hypothesis that the most important parameter for determining adult tick abundance in this system is larval, not adult, questing success.…”