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. 2016 Mar;7(3):e01317.
doi: 10.1002/ecs2.1317. Epub 2016 Mar 25.

Scale-dependent effects of nonnative plant invasion on host-seeking tick abundance

Solny A Adalsteinsson  1 , Vincent D'Amico  2 , W Gregory Shriver  1 , Dustin Brisson  3 , Jeffrey J Buler  1
Affiliations

Scale-dependent effects of nonnative plant invasion on host-seeking tick abundance

Solny A Adalsteinsson et al. Ecosphere. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

Nonnative, invasive shrubs can affect human disease risk through direct and indirect effects on vector populations. Multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) is a common invader within eastern deciduous forests where tick-borne disease (e.g. Lyme disease) rates are high. We tested whether R. multiflora invasion affects blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) abundance, and at what scale. We sampled host-seeking ticks at two spatial scales: fine-scale, within R. multiflora-invaded forest fragments; and patch scale, among R. multiflora-invaded and R. multiflora-free forest fragments. At a fine scale, we trapped 2.3 times more ticks under R. multiflora compared to paired traps 25 m away from R. multiflora. At the patch scale, we trapped 3.2 times as many ticks in R. multiflora-free forests compared to R. multiflora-invaded forests. Thus, ticks are concentrated beneath R. multiflora within invaded forests, but uninvaded forests support significantly more ticks. Among all covariates tested, leaf litter volume was the best predictor of tick abundance; at the patch scale, R. multiflora-invaded forests had less leaf litter than uninvaded forests. We suggest that leaf litter availability at the patch-scale plays a greater role in constraining tick abundance than the fine-scale, positive effect of invasive shrubs.

Keywords: Ixodes scapularis; Rosa multiflora; forest fragmentation; invasive species; nonnative plant; scale.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study area in New Castle County, Delaware. Green represents forest cover; pale yellow is agriculture; blue is water; and white is any type of human development. “Rose-invaded” and “uninvaded” fragments refer to forest fragments with and without R. multiflora invasion.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Boxplot of tick abundance measured at traps in uninvaded forests, at traps under R. multiflora in invaded forests (“in rose”), and at traps not under R. multiflora (“not in rose”) in invaded forests. Horizontal white lines represent medians and boxes demonstrate the interquartile range.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Generalized additive model (GAM) partial dependence plot of top-ranked model. Lines display the best fit for the relationship between log-transformed tick abundance and predictor variables. Gray bars represent 95% confidence interval and black dots show actual data points.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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