Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
J Med Entomol. 2019 Oct 28;56(6):1555-1564. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjz116.
Ticks are widespread vectors for many important medical and veterinary infections, and a better understanding of the factors that regulate their population dynamics is needed to reduce risk for humans, wildlife, and domestic animals. Most ticks, and all non-nidicolous tick species, spend only a small fraction of their lives associated with vertebrate hosts, with the remainder spent in or on soils and other substrates. Ecological studies of tick-borne disease dynamics have emphasized tick-host interactions, including host associations, burdens, and efficiencies of pathogen transmission, while under emphasizing tick biology during off-host periods. Our ability to predict spatiotemporal trends in tick-borne diseases requires more knowledge of soil ecosystems and their effect on host and tick populations. In this review, we focus on tick species of medical and veterinary concern and describe: 1) the relationships between soil factors and tick densities; 2) biotic and abiotic factors within the soil ecosystem that directly affect tick survival; 3) potential indirect effects on ticks mediated by soil ecosystem influences on their vertebrate hosts; 4) the potential for tick-mediated effects on vertebrate host populations to affect ecosystems; and 5) possible nontarget impacts of tick management on the soil ecosystem. Soils are complex ecosystem components with enormous potential to affect the survival and behavior of ticks during their off-host periods. Hence, tick-borne disease systems present an excellent opportunity for soil ecologists and public health researchers to collaborate and improve understanding of these medically important and ecologically complex disease cycles.
蜱虫是许多重要的医学和兽医传染病的广泛传播媒介，为了降低人类、野生动物和家畜的风险，需要更好地了解调节其种群动态的因素。大多数蜱虫和所有非嗜血性蜱种在与脊椎动物宿主相关的生命中只占很小的一部分，其余时间都在土壤和其他基质中度过。蜱传疾病动态的生态研究强调了蜱-宿主相互作用，包括宿主关联、负担和病原体传播效率，而对非宿主期间的蜱生物学关注较少。我们预测蜱传疾病时空趋势的能力需要更多地了解土壤生态系统及其对宿主和蜱虫种群的影响。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注具有医学和兽医意义的蜱虫物种，并描述：1）土壤因素与蜱密度之间的关系；2）直接影响蜱虫生存的土壤生态系统中的生物和非生物因素；3）通过土壤生态系统对其脊椎动物宿主的影响间接影响蜱虫的潜在因素；4）蜱虫对脊椎动物宿主种群的潜在影响及其对生态系统的影响；5）蜱虫管理对土壤生态系统可能产生的非目标影响。土壤是复杂的生态系统组成部分，具有巨大的潜力影响蜱虫在非宿主期间的生存和行为。因此，蜱传疾病系统为土壤生态学家和公共卫生研究人员提供了一个极好的机会，合作并提高对这些具有医学重要性和生态复杂性的疾病周期的理解。
