University of Louisville
What’s All This Tick Talk About? Exploring Different Abiotic Factors and How They Determine Tick Abundance and Presence
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Sophomore
Major
Biology
Minor
Chemistry
Institution 23-24
University of Louisville
KY House District #
3
KY Senate District #
35
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Mallory Harmel; Rachel Pigg, PhD.
Department
Department of Biology
Abstract
Ticks are known vectors of many diseases including Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome. Louisville, Kentucky houses an extensive park system with up to 1 million visitors per year at some parks, yet little is known about ticks within these parks. Iroquois Park was an area of interest to study because it is open to a wide array of activities including disc golfing, bird watching, hiking, and biking to human visitors, and these areas can also be utilized by local wildlife who can act as tick hosts.It was hypothesized that tick emergence was likely to have a positive correlation between temperature at ground level, presence and depth of leaf litter, and relative humidity, whereas tick emergence would have a negative correlation with canopy cover. Photographs and a Kestrel 3000 were used to capture environmental data including relative humidity, temperature, and leaf litter depth. The flagging method was used to detect the presence of ticks at each randomly selected sampling plot (n=30), where flag checks occurred every 10m (n=16/plot); at each flag check environmental data was collected. QGIS was used to create visual maps for easier interpretation to determine the effect of canopy cover on tick presence. The knowledge gained from this research can help city and park managers understand more about the environmental factors that may affect larval and nymphal tick presence and densities (which are not well researched). Furthermore, this research can be used to help educate the public about their potential risk of encountering ticks. Finally, as climate change continues to affect our planet, knowing what environmental factors allow ticks to thrive can help predict range expansion in the future.
What’s All This Tick Talk About? Exploring Different Abiotic Factors and How They Determine Tick Abundance and Presence
Ticks are known vectors of many diseases including Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome. Louisville, Kentucky houses an extensive park system with up to 1 million visitors per year at some parks, yet little is known about ticks within these parks. Iroquois Park was an area of interest to study because it is open to a wide array of activities including disc golfing, bird watching, hiking, and biking to human visitors, and these areas can also be utilized by local wildlife who can act as tick hosts.It was hypothesized that tick emergence was likely to have a positive correlation between temperature at ground level, presence and depth of leaf litter, and relative humidity, whereas tick emergence would have a negative correlation with canopy cover. Photographs and a Kestrel 3000 were used to capture environmental data including relative humidity, temperature, and leaf litter depth. The flagging method was used to detect the presence of ticks at each randomly selected sampling plot (n=30), where flag checks occurred every 10m (n=16/plot); at each flag check environmental data was collected. QGIS was used to create visual maps for easier interpretation to determine the effect of canopy cover on tick presence. The knowledge gained from this research can help city and park managers understand more about the environmental factors that may affect larval and nymphal tick presence and densities (which are not well researched). Furthermore, this research can be used to help educate the public about their potential risk of encountering ticks. Finally, as climate change continues to affect our planet, knowing what environmental factors allow ticks to thrive can help predict range expansion in the future.