Effects of Climate on the Variation in Abundance of Three Tick Species in Illinois

Abstract

The range of ticks in North America has been steadily increasing likely, in part, due to climate change. Along with it, there has been a rise in cases of tick-borne disease. Among those medically important tick species of particular concern are Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), Dermacentor variabilis Say (Acari: Ixodidae), and Amblyomma americanum Linneaus (Acari: Ixodidae). The aim of this study was to determine if climate factors explain existing differences in abundance of the three aforementioned tick species between two climatically different regions of Illinois (Central and Southern), and if climate variables impact each species differently. We used both zero-inflated regression approaches and Bayesian network analyses to assess relationships among environmental variables and tick abundance. Results suggested that the maximum average temperature and total precipitation are associated with differential impact on species abundance and that this difference varied by region. Results also reinforced a differential level of resistance to desiccation among these tick species. Our findings help to further define risk periods of tick exposure for the general public, and reinforce the importance of responding to each tick species differently.

A novel laboratory method to simulate climatic stress with successful application to experiments with medically relevant ticks

“…Field studies would complement insights from laboratory experiments that use this protocol. For example, field observational studies in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Illinois showed that RH and precipitation affect questing activity and abundance patterns of A. americanum, D. variabilis, and I. scapularis [35,[45][46][47][48]. Additional experiments showed that microclimatic conditions affect survival of Ixodes ticks, although questing behavior depends largely on geographic origin of populations, suggesting local ecological adaptation [43,49].…”

Prevalence of different tick species on livestock and associated equines and canine from different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan

“…In the study area, diverse tick species were observed amongst different livestock and associated animals. The diversity of tick species might be due to the climatic conditions, which are favorable for the development of many tick species (29). The ticks identified in this study are known to be facilitators of several tick-borne infections (30).…”

“…The ticks identified in this study are known to be facilitators of several tick-borne infections (30). Several tick species that belong to the genera Rhipicephalus, Hyalomma, Haemaphysalis, and Ixodes have been reported previously (19,20,(29)(30)(31)(32)(33).…”

Northward Expansion ofAmblyomma americanum(Acari: Ixodidae) into Southern Michigan

“…These include foliage composition, temperature, humidity, day length and seasonality (Ludwig et al 2016). Cold winters are known to limit the survivorship of overwintering ticks (Semtner and Hair 1976, Kaizer et al 2015, Linske et al 2019, Bacon et al 2021), so it might not be purely coincidence that both in New England and the northern central U.S., populations of A. americanum are emerging initially along coastal habitats, which have more moderate winters relative to areas further inland. It is unknown how A. americanum may have been introduced into northwest Indiana, whether via terrestrial hosts or migrating birds, but there are records of low numbers of A. americanum collected via a combination of passive and active surveillance from the three northwest counties bordering Lake Michigan since the late 1990s and evidence of established populations since 2005 (L. Green, Indiana Department of Health, pers.…”