About This Project

It is important to control tick abundance due to their ability to vector diseases. Burning in tick habitat can cause direct tick mortality and alter the microenvironment. To establish if this method of management is effective, ticks will be collected in burned and unburned areas of forest, after burning and in subsequent years. Vegetation structure and diversity will be evaluated and may be related to tick abundance. Ticks will be tested for Borrellia sp., the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Lyme disease is endemic to the Midwestern region of the U. S., including Illinois and is a growing public health concern. There has been little research on the effects of prescribed fire on tick abundance that also includes information regarding changes in woody understory, groundflora vegetation and leaf litter that comprise tick habitat. Some research shows that tick abundance decreases initially after a fire, but in subsequent years, populations recover (Gleim et al. 2014; Horak et al. 2006). Other studies have shown prescribed fire has little effect on tick mortality (Padgett et al. 2009).

What is the significance of this project?

Controlling tick abundance is important since several species are known to vector diseases. In 2013, the CDC announced that Lyme disease is much more prevalent than previously reported, with approximately 300,000 sufferers across the U.S. Lyme disease is caused by Borrellia sp. bacteria and is commonly vectored by the black-legged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis). Over the past several decades, the range of the I. scapularis tick has expanded rapidly. An established population of I. scapularis was found at the study site, during 2015, in Hancock County, Illinois. It is important to understand the complex ecological interactions between plants and animals because it will help us predict where people will be more likely to encounter disease-carrying ticks.

What are the goals of the project?

The first goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of prescribed burning on tick abundance. I will also assess the impact of changes in vegetation and leaf litter on tick diversity and abundance. Finally, I will document the prevalence of Lyme disease-causing bacteria in ticks collected at the study site. The study treatments consist of (5) units burned in spring of 2015, (5) burned in 2014 and (5) unburned units. Ticks collected will be tested for the presence of Borrellia bacteria using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to copy DNA. Sanger sequencing will be used to read the sequence of nucleotides. After ticks are collected for the 2016 season, we will be conducting a fall burn in the unburned area of forest to evaluate the impact of seasonality of burns.