It’s near the peak of blacklegged tick season this fall.
And for years, research has shown that ticks are more abundant on certain understory plants like Japanese barberry, bush honeysuckles and common buckthorn — all invasive species.
Now, scientists in Vermont and Maine are testing how managing these plants might decrease tick numbers — and the risk of people developing tick-borne illness. They’re hoping to come up with best practices for landowners after getting a $1.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
“We can do all the ecological research we want on the problem, but if we are not able to translate our findings into recommendations, ultimately we are not going to make any headway,” said Allie Gardner, a medical entomologist at the University of Maine, and the lead researcher on the project.
It’s not entirely clear why ticks are more likely to hang out on some invasive species compared to native plants, but there are several ideas.
“The humidity levels around Japanese barberry seems kind of ideal for ticks,” said Kristen Ross, a restoration ecologist at Vermont State University and a collaborator on the project. “They like it not too rainy and not too dry.”
Dense thickets of barberry in a forest’s understory also provide cover for mice — a main host of blacklegged ticks, also called deer ticks.
“They can hide in these really dense infestations and it’s very hard for natural predators of mice to get in because the invasive plant infestations are so thick,” Gardner added.
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The researchers also caution that removing thickets of barberry or honeysuckle is not going to eliminate ticks entirely.
“There is this question of, how much of a reduction does there need to be before you see a reduced risk [of disease],” said Bill Landesman, an ecologist who studies blacklegged ticks and another collaborator on the project, also at Vermont State University.
Over the next five years, the researchers will gather data from private and public land in Maine’s Penobscot County and Vermont’s Rutland County. Then, they’ll train landowners on best practices for managing ticks and invasive species — findings Gardner hopes will spread beyond their project.
“We know that there’s an intense dislike of invasive plants, and, similarly, of ticks,” she said.
“We’re looking for win-wins.”
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