Temporal Variations in the Usefulness of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index as a Predictor for Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) in a Borrelia lusitaniae Focus in Tuscany, Central Italy

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Importance of Common Wall Lizards in the Transmission Dynamics of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Northern Apennine Mountains, Italy

During the investigations on ticks and tick-borne pathogens (TBP) range expansion in the Northern Apennines, we captured 107 Podarcis muralis lizards. Sixty-eight animals were infested by immature Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis sulcata and H. punctata. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 3.7% of I. ricinus larvae and 8.0% of nymphs. Together with the species-specific B. lusitaniae, we identified B. garinii, B. afzelii and B. valaisiana. Rickettsia spp. (18.1% larvae, 12.0% nymphs), namely R. monacensis, R. helvetica and R. hoogstraalii, were also found in I. ricinus. R. hoogstraalii was detected in H. sulcata nymphs as well, while the two H. punctata did not harbour any bacteria. One out of 16 lizard tail tissues was positive to R. helvetica. Our results support the hypothesis that lizards are involved in the epidemiological cycles of TBP. The heterogeneity of B. burgdorferi genospecies mirrors previous findings in questing ticks in the area, and their finding in attached I. ricinus larvae suggests that lizards may contribute to the maintenance of different genospecies. The rickettsiae are new findings in the study area, and R. helvetica infection in a tail tissue indicates a systemic infection. R. hoogstraalii is reported for the first time in I. ricinus ticks. Lizards seem to favour the bacterial exchange among different tick species, with possible public health consequences.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modeling the Spread of Vector-Borne Diseases on Bipartite Networks

BACKGROUND: Vector-borne diseases for which transmission occurs exclusively between vectors and hosts can be modeled as spreading on a bipartite network. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In such models the spreading of the disease strongly depends on the degree distribution of the two classes of nodes. It is sufficient for one of the classes to have a scale-free degree distribution with a slow enough decay for the network to have asymptotically vanishing epidemic threshold. Data on the distribution of Ixodes ricinus ticks on mice and lizards from two independent studies are well described by a scale-free distribution compatible with an asymptotically vanishing epidemic threshold. The commonly used negative binomial, instead, cannot describe the right tail of the empirical distribution. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The extreme aggregation of vectors on hosts, described by the power-law decay of the degree distribution, makes the epidemic threshold decrease with the size of the network and vanish asymptotically

Monitoraggio della popolazione di mufloni (ovis orientalis musimon) sulla Pania di Corfino: indagine preliminare

Le introduzioni del muflone (Ovis orientalis musimon) hanno avuto particolare successo anche in aree diverse dall’habitat tipico della specie, ed in particolare nella R.N. Orecchiella, all’interno del P.N. Appennino Tosco-Emiliano, zona nella quale la popolazione di mufloni si è gradatamente adattata ed ampliata. Lo scopo del lavoro è stato quello di valutare l’avvistabilità, la dimensione dei gruppi e l’utilizzo del territorio, da parte della suddetta popolazione, in due diverse stagioni dell’anno, una autunnale (da Ottobre agli inizi di Dicembre) ed una primaverile (da Marzo alla metà di Aprile). L’analisi dei risultati degli avvistamenti, tramite il calcolo di appostiti rapporti tesi ad evidenziare la struttura di popolazione, ne conferma la stabilità strutturale e numerica, probabilmente dovuta anche al fatto che, all’interno del Parco non è possibile la caccia e che esiste un unico nucleo stabile di Canis lupus, costituito soltanto da 4-5 esemplari, che può svolgere una limitata azione di predazione. Si sono inoltre evidenziate variazioni comportamentali in relazione alla diversa stagione di osservazione (fase pre- riproduttiva e post-riproduttiva) sia per quanto riguarda la dimensione dei gruppi che l’uso del territorio e che possono essere messe in relazione al comportamento antipredatorio legato, nel secondo periodo di osservazione, alla presenza dei piccoli. I dati ottenuti nella presente prova possono rappresentare un termine di paragone per verificare le tendenze evolutive di altre popolazioni di mufloni in aree simili

Reproductive traits of two haplotypes of the European hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778)

Four hundred and two pairs of hares belonging to the mountain and brown haplotypes of the European hare Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 were raised in a farm located in central Italy over 4 years (from 2003 to 2006). The birth date, total number of young born, and number of surviving and weaned leverets were recorded for each pair. The start of reproduction, birth-interval, length of the reproductive season, number of birth per pair per year, number of leverets per pair, number of weaned leverets per pair and number of weaned leverets per birth were analysed in relation to the different haplotypes and years; the incidence of superfetation and pseudogestation was also considered. Results showed that the brown hare produced young at the beginning of February, whilst the mountain hare started reproduction significantly later. Brown hares showed a longer reproductive period than mountain hares ( 192 days vs 156 days) and a higher productivity. The most frequent gestation length was 37-41 days. The distribution of delivery intervals did not differ between the two haplotypes

Red Deer grazing areas on the Tuscan side of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park: preliminary study

The red deer (Cervus elaphus hippelaphus) is one of the most numerous and widespread deer species in Europe, including Italy. A stable red deer population is present on the Tuscan side of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park. The faecal pellet count method was used to analyze some pasture sites in the study area used by red deer, in relation to several environmental characteristics. Our results suggest that the aspect and altitude of the area influenced significantly (P<0.05) the environmental characteristics