Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 372, Issue 1722, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0123
Keywords
Lyme borreliosis; Ixodes; conservation management; biodiversity
Categories
Funding
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Doctoral Training grant [BB/F016786/1]
- National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Environmental Change and Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- Public Health England (PHE)
- University of Exeter
- University College London
- Met Office
- NIHR HPRU on Emerging Infections and Zoonoses at the University of Liverpool
- PHE
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
- Scottish Government's Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS)
- BBSRC [BB/F016786/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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Landscape change and altered host abundance are major drivers of zoonotic pathogen emergence. Conservation and biodiversity management of landscapes and vertebrate communities can have secondary effects on vector-borne pathogen transmission that are important to assess. Here we review the potential implications of these activities on the risk of Lyme borreliosis in the United Kingdom. Conservation management activities include woodland expansion, management and restoration, deer management, urban greening and the release and culling of non-native species. Available evidence suggests that increasing woodland extent, implementing biodiversity policies that encourage ecotonal habitat and urban greening can increase the risk of Lyme borreliosis by increasing suitable habitat for hosts and the tick vectors. However, this can depend on whether deer population management is carried out as part of these conservation activities. Exclusion fencing or culling deer to low densities can decrease tick abundance and Lyme borreliosis risk. As management actions often constitute large-scale perturbation experiments, these hold great potential to understand underlying drivers of tick and pathogen dynamics. We recommend integrating monitoring of ticks and the risk of tick-borne pathogens with conservation management activities. This would help fill knowledge gaps and the production of best practice guidelines to reduce risks. This article is part of the themed issue 'Conservation, biodiversity and infectious disease: scientific evidence and policy implications'.
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