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Deer presence rather than abundance determines the population density of the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus, in Dutch forests

Overview of attention for article published in Parasites & Vectors, September 2017
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  • In the top 25% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (82nd percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (94th percentile)

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16 X users

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Title
Deer presence rather than abundance determines the population density of the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus, in Dutch forests
Published in
Parasites & Vectors, September 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13071-017-2370-7
Pubmed ID
Authors

Tim R. Hofmeester, Hein Sprong, Patrick A. Jansen, Herbert H. T. Prins, Sipke E. van Wieren

Abstract

Understanding which factors drive population densities of disease vectors is an important step in assessing disease risk. We tested the hypothesis that the density of ticks from the Ixodes ricinus complex, which are important vectors for tick-borne diseases, is determined by the density of deer, as adults of these ticks mainly feed on deer. We performed a cross-sectional study to investigate I. ricinus density across 20 forest plots in the Netherlands that ranged widely in deer availability to ticks, and performed a deer-exclosure experiment in four pairs of 1 ha forest plots in a separate site. Ixodes ricinus from all stages were more abundant in plots with deer (n = 17) than in plots without deer (n = 3). Where deer were present, the density of ticks did not increase with the abundance of deer. Experimental exclosure of deer reduced nymph density by 66% and adult density by 32% within a timeframe of two years. In this study, deer presence rather than abundance explained the density of I. ricinus. This is in contrast to previous studies and might be related to the relatively high host-species richness in Dutch forests. This means that reduction of the risk of acquiring a tick bite would require the complete elimination of deer in species rich forests. The fact that small exclosures (< 1 ha) substantially reduced I. ricinus densities suggests that fencing can be used to reduce tick-borne disease risk in areas with high recreational pressure.

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X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 16 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 125 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 125 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 22 18%
Student > Master 21 17%
Researcher 18 14%
Student > Bachelor 14 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 7 6%
Other 11 9%
Unknown 32 26%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 36 29%
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine 16 13%
Environmental Science 16 13%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 7 6%
Immunology and Microbiology 5 4%
Other 9 7%
Unknown 36 29%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 11. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 17 July 2020.
All research outputs
#2,912,572
of 23,166,665 outputs
Outputs from Parasites & Vectors
#619
of 5,531 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#55,898
of 318,583 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Parasites & Vectors
#8
of 123 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,166,665 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 87th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,531 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 318,583 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 123 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.