LTREB: Acorn pulses and the dynamics of rodents, ticks, and Lyme-disease risk in oak forests

LTREB：橡子豆类以及橡树林中啮齿动物、蜱虫和莱姆病风险的动态

• 批准号: 0949702
• 负责人: Richard Ostfeld
• 金额: $ 45万
• 依托单位: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-05-01 至 2015-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0949702&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: LTREB; Acorn; pulses; dynamics; rodents; LTREB; Acorn; pulses; dynamics; rodents

Long-term data on the abundance of arthropod vectors that transmit important human diseases are necessary to predict risk. Risk of human exposure to Lyme disease is related to the abundance of blacklegged ticks (the vector) that are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (the pathogen). The objective of this research is to understand the causes of dramatic variation in risk at representative sites in the northeastern U.S.A. Prior research suggests that Lyme disease risk is correlated with prior abundance of white-footed mice (a critical host for ticks and pathogens), and that mouse abundance is correlated with prior abundance of acorns (a crucial food for mice). Tick and mouse populations, and acorn production, are potentially influenced by changing climatic conditions. The proposed research will establish which climatic variables influence tick survival, mouse abundance, and acorn production. It will clarify the nature of the relationships between acorns and mice, and between mice and ticks. The results will facilitate the integration of climate change with forest health to predict risk. Results of this long-term project are used for K-12 classroom teaching (including a PBS NOVA unit), undergraduate education (independent research projects and material for textbooks in ecology, conservation biology, and mammalogy), and public education (local and regional presentations about Lyme disease risk factors, media coverage in newspapers and magazines). The proposed research has strong practical implications because it allows prediction of times and places of high disease risk.

关于传播重要人类疾病的节肢动物载体丰富的长期数据是预测风险的必要条件。 人类暴露于莱姆病的风险与被Borrelia burgdorferi感染（病原体）感染的黑腿壁虱（载体）有关。 这项研究的目的是了解美国东北部代表场所风险急剧差异的原因。先前的研究表明，莱姆病风险与先前丰富的白脚小鼠（tick虫和病原体的关键宿主）相关，并且小鼠丰富的含量与Acorns of Acorns for Miese的含量相关。 tick和小鼠种群以及橡子的产量可能会受到气候条件变化的影响。 拟议的研究将确定哪些气候变量会影响壁虱生存，小鼠丰度和橡子产量。 它将阐明橡子和小鼠之间关系的性质，以及小鼠和壁虱之间的性质。 结果将促进气候变化与森林健康的整合以预测风险。 该长期项目的结果用于K-12课堂教学（包括PBS NOVA单元），本科教育（独立的研究项目和生态学，保护生物学和哺乳动物学教科书的材料）以及公共教育（有关莱姆病疾病风险因素，报纸和杂志的媒体报道，报纸和杂志的媒体危险因素，局部和地区的教育）。拟议的研究具有强大的实际含义，因为它可以预测高疾病风险的时间和地点。