Managing Japanese Barberry (Ranunculales: Berberidaceae) Infestations Reduces Blacklegged Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) Abundance and Infection Prevalence with Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae)

• Published in: Environmental entomology 2009-08, Vol.38 (4), p.977-984
• Main Authors: Williams, Scott C, Ward, Jeffrey S, Worthley, Thomas E, Stafford, Kirby C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acari; Animal and plant ecology; animal pathogenic bacteria; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; arthropod pests; Berberidaceae; Berberis; Berberis thunbergii; Biological and medical sciences; blacklegged tick; Borrelia burgdorferi; COMMUNITY AND ECOSYSTEM ECOLOGY; disease prevalence; disease vectors; Ecosystem; ectoparasites; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; hardwood forests; hosts; incidence; invasive species; Ixodes - microbiology; Ixodes scapularis; Ixodidae; Japanese barberry; Larva; Lyme disease; Male; Odocoileus virginianus; Peromyscus - parasitology; Peromyscus leucopus; plant density; Population Density; public health; Ranunculales; small mammals; Spirochaetaceae; Spirochaetales; Synecology; temperate forests; Terrestrial ecosystems; understory; vectorial capacity; weed control; white-footed mouse; white-tailed deer; woody weeds
• ISSN: 0046-225X; 1938-2936
• DOI: 10.1603/022.038.0404

In many Connecticut forests with an overabundance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii DC) has become the dominant understory shrub, which may provide a habitat favorable to blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) and white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) survival. To determine mouse and larval tick abundances at three replicate sites over 2 yr, mice were trapped in unmanipulated dense barberry infestations, areas where barberry was controlled, and areas where barberry was absent. The number of feeding larval ticks/mouse was recorded. Adult and nymphal ticks were sampled along 200-m draglines in each treatment, retained, and were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt, and Brenner) presence. Total first-captured mouse counts did not differ between treatments. Mean number of feeding larval ticks per mouse was highest on mice captured in dense barberry. Adult tick densities in dense barberry were higher than in both controlled barberry and no barberry areas. Ticks sampled from full barberry infestations and controlled barberry areas had similar infection prevalence with B. burgdorferi the first year. In areas where barberry was controlled, infection prevalence was reduced to equal that of no barberry areas the second year of the study. Results indicate that managing Japanese barberry will have a positive effect on public health by reducing the number of B. burgdorferi-infected blacklegged ticks that can develop into motile life stages that commonly feed on humans.