Establishment and range expansion of Dermacentor variabilis in the northern Maritimes of Canada: Community participatory science documents establishment of an invasive tick species.

ABSTRACT: Tick populations are dependent on a complex interplay of abiotic and biotic influences, many of which are influenced by anthropic factors including climate change. Dermacentor variabilis, the wood tick or American dog tick, is a hardy tick species that feeds from a wide range of mammals and birds that can transmit pathogens of medical and agricultural importance. Significant range expansion across North America has been occurring over the past decades;this study documents northwards range expansion in the Canadian Maritime provinces. Tick recoveries from passive surveillance between 2012 and 2021 were examined to assess northward population expansion through Atlantic Canada. At the beginning of this period, D. variabilis was abundant in the most southerly province, Nova Scotia, but was not

SUBMITTER: Kirby AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10575507 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature