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Fire disturbance promotes biodiversity of plants, lichens and birds in the Siberian subarctic tundra
Fire shapes the world's terrestrial ecosystems and has been influencing biodiversity patterns for millennia. Anthropogenic drivers alter fire regimes. Wildfires can amplify changes in the structure, biodiversity and ...
High tick abundance and diversity of tick-borne pathogens in a Finnish city
<p>The sheep tick Ixodes ricinus is
the primary vector for various zoonotic diseases, including Lyme
borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), in Europe. Because both
abundance of ticks and prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in these
organisms have increased in many locations and under different
environments, we designed a study to survey the occurrence of ticks and
pathogens in an urban area, namely, the city of Turku, in SW Finland. In
summer 2017, we collected >700 ticks, primarily from city parks,
suburban forest patches, and recreational areas. Comprehensive subsets
of ticks were screened for presence of all common tick-borne pathogens.
Half of the ticks carried at least one pathogen. The most common
pathogens detected were the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, i.e.,
bacteria belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi
sensu lato group. Their prevalence was 37% in nymphal and 47% in adult
ticks, which are high in comparison with surveys conducted elsewhere in
northern Europe. Similarly, Rickettsia spp. (primarily R. helvetica)
were also detected in a relatively high proportion of the samples (11%
of both nymphs and adults). The TBE virus was not found in a relatively
small subsample, but we detected (albeit at a low prevalence of 0–6% of
nymphs and adults) the bacterial pathogens Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and the protozoan Babesia
spp., which are also known agents of zoonotic diseases. The relatively
high abundance of ticks and high diversity and overall prevalence of
tick-borne pathogens suggest a lively and dense presence of mammalian
and avian tick hosts in the city. Our results indicate a higher risk of
encountering tick-borne pathogens in urbanized areas of southern Finland
than previously known. Moreover, the possibility of acquiring
tick-borne diseases from urban environments likely exists throughout
most of Europe, and it should be acknowledged by health care
professionals.</p>...
Strategic roadmap to assess forest vulnerability under air pollution and climate change
<p>Although it is an integral part of global change, most of the research addressing the effects of climate change on forests have overlooked the role of environmental pollution. Similarly, most studies investigating the ...
Impact of continuous predator threat on telomere dynamics in parent and nestling pied flycatchers
In addition to direct mortality, predators can have indirect effects on prey populations by affecting prey behaviour or physiology. For example, predator presence can increase stress hormone levels, which can have physiological ...
Differences in stopover duration and body mass change among Emberiza buntings during autumn migration in the Russian Far East
Stopover periods between flights are essential for migrating birds, and the time birds spend at stopover sites as well as the refuelling rate is determined by intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as competition and ...
Northern geometrid forest pests (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) hatch at lower temperatures than their southern conspecifics: Implications of climate change
Climate change may facilitate shifts in the ranges and the spread of insect pests, but a warming climate may also affect herbivorous insects adversely if it disrupts the locally adapted synchrony between the phenology of ...
Ecological Stoichiometry: A Link Between Developmental Speed and Physiological Stress in an Omnivorous Insect
The elemental composition of organisms belongs to a suite of functional traits that may adaptively respond to fluctuating selection pressures. Life history theory predicts that predation risk and resource limitations impose ...
The importance of study duration and spatial scale in pathogen detection - evidence from a tick-infested island
Ticks (Acari: Ixodoidea) are among the most common vectors of zoonotic pathogens worldwide. While research on tick-borne pathogens is abundant, few studies have thoroughly investigated small-scale spatial differences in ...
Newly Digitized Database Reveals the Lives and Families of Forced Migrants from Finnish Karelia
<p>Studies on displaced persons often suffer from a lack of data on the long-term effects of forced migration. A register created during 1960s and published as a book series ‘Siirtokarjalaisten tie’ in 1970 documented the ...