Abstract
Some tick populations have increased dramatically in the past several decades leading to an increase in the incidence and emergence of tick-borne diseases. Management strategies that can effectively reduce tick populations while better understanding regional tick phenology is needed. One promising management strategy is prescribed burning. However, the efficacy of prescribed burning as a mechanism for tick control is unclear because past studies have provided conflicting data, likely due to a failure of some studies to simulate operational management scenarios and/or account for other predictors of tick abundance. Therefore, our study was conducted to increase knowledge of tick population dynamics relative to long-term prescribed fire management. Furthermore, we targeted a region, southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida (USA), in which little is known regarding tick dynamics so that basic phenology could be determined. Twenty-one plots with varying burn regimes (burned surrounded by burned [BB], burned surrounded by unburned [BUB], unburned surrounded by burned [UBB], and unburned surrounded by unburned [UBUB]) were sampled monthly for two years while simultaneously collecting data on variables that can affect tick abundance (e.g., host abundance, vegetation structure, and micro- and macro-climatic conditions). In total, 47,185 ticks were collected, of which, 99% were Amblyomma americanum, 0.7% were Ixodes scapularis, and fewer numbers of Amblyomma maculatum, Ixodes brunneus, and Dermacentor variabilis. Monthly seasonality trends were similar between 2010 and 2011. Long-term prescribed burning consistently and significantly reduced tick counts (overall and specifically for A. americanum and I. scapularis) regardless of the burn regimes and variables evaluated. Tick species composition varied according to burn regime with A. americanum dominating at UBUB, A. maculatum at BB, I. scapularis at UBB, and a more even composition at BUB. These data indicate that regular prescribed burning is an effective tool for reducing tick populations and ultimately may reduce risk of tick-borne disease.
Highlights
In the past several decades, numerous novel tick-borne diseases have emerged and the incidence of other tick-borne diseases has increased [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]
47,184 ticks were collected with A. americanum being the most common tick detected followed by I. scapularis, A. maculatum, D. variabilis, and I. brunneus (Table 2)
Single A. maculatum nymphs were collected in April 2010 and in March 2011 and a single A. maculatum larval clutch was collected in September 2011
Summary
In the past several decades, numerous novel tick-borne diseases have emerged and the incidence of other tick-borne diseases has increased [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8] While this increase is likely due to a number of factors, such as increases in reporting, diagnosis and host abundance, one of the primary drivers is thought to be human land modification and management practices [3,8,9]. This hypothesis has underscored the importance of understanding how human land management practices affect tick population dynamics as well as identifying methods to control tick populations and reduce human disease risk. The immediate regeneration of understory vegetation after a burn and the long-term density and diversity of understory vegetation within regularly burned habitat provides resources for many wildlife species including the endangered or threatened gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus), Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), and red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) [11,15,17,18]
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