Influence of climatic factors on dynamics of questing Ixodes ricinus ticks in Slovenia
Abstract
Ixodes ricinus is a vector of pathogens that cause many diseases in Europe and Slovenia: tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), anaplasmosis, borreliosis, babesiosis and others. The risk for contracting these diseases depends strongly on the density of the infected questing ticks and many studies have investigated tick population dynamics and the parameters affecting them. They have shown a clear influence of climatic and landscape arrangements in the microhabitat on tick abundance and dynamics and therefore on transmission of pathogens important in human and veterinary medicine. In our study we assessed the influence of climatic factors on questing activity of ticks over a three-year period at 7 locations in Slovenia. Locations were selected in endemic foci of TBE with different intensity, which were identified according to the presence of human disease. Sites differ according to various abiotic and biotic factors, such as climate, amount of rain, height above sea level, vegetation and wildlife. All three stages of ticks were collected monthly over a three-year period (2005-2007). Temperature, humidity and precipitation data were collected for these years. The purpose of our study was to relate observed differences in I. ricinus ticks questing activity to local climate. We found a correlation between the decrease of questing ticks in the summer and the combination of air temperatures and humidity in the form of saturation deficit.
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The presence and density of Ixodes ricinus are related to plant cover and to the density of its hosts (micromammals for larvae and nymphs, large mammals for adult ticks).
“Regarding Ixodes ricinus, the forest tick, the most common among hard ticks in Europe, its presence and density are obviously related to the plant cover, but also to the density of its hosts: micromammals for larvae and nymphs and large mammals (deer, wild boar, foxes and even bovine and dogs) for adult ticks [20].”
From Impact of climate change in the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases in domestic carnivores (2013) · cites this paper as [20]
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Impact of climate change in the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases in domestic carnivores
Beugnet, F., & Chalvet-Monfray, K. (2013) · Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2013.07.003 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
- Authors
- Knap, N., Durmiši, E., Saksida, A., Korva, M., Petrovec, M., & Avšič-Županc, T.
- Venue
- Veterinary Parasitology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-10
- Volume
- 164
- Issue
- 2-4
- Pages
- 275-281
- ISSN
- 0304-4017 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2007520889
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 28
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Veterinary Parasitology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Study of Mite Species
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral Infections and Vectors
- Keywords
- Ixodes ricinus, questing ticks, tick population dynamics, climatic factors, tick-borne encephalitis, saturation deficit, air temperature, humidity, precipitation, tick-borne pathogens, Slovenia
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Climate, Feeding Behavior, Larva, Nymph, Seasons, Time Factors, Slovenia, Ixodes, Global Warming
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