CoPRAM - Assessment of the influence of connectivity between wooded areas in the landscape on tick-borne disease risk : approche par modélisation

Objectives

The aim of this work is to examine in depth the methodological issues involved in modelling the influence of the degree of fragmentation of agricultural landscapes in wooded areas on the acarological risk, using the example of bacteria of the genus Borrelia, the agents of Lyme disease. Bayesian statistical analyses of existing sets of observed data and real landscapes will be used to identify the variables influencing the risk in wooded habitats in a bocage landscape. These variables will be integrated into a dynamic model based on the coupling between a landscape model and a model of bacterial transmission within tick populations. Developed within a conceptual framework of metapopulations, this model will enable scenarios to be explored both theoretically and by comparison with the data, particularly with regard to the respective influence of the characteristics of the woods (size, composition) and their spatial arrangement.

Approaches

Data were collected as part of the Biodilutique project (MP Biosefair, 2021-2023), which aimed to assess the influence of host factors and landscape characteristics on the acarological risk caused by various pathogens, in particular bacteria of the genus Borrelia. Two tick-collection campaigns were carried out in wooded areas of varying size, on the site of the Plaine et Val de Sèvres Long-Term Ecosystem Research (LTER) area (France). 

These ticks were analysed to estimate their carriage of the pathogen. The data were geo-located over the whole area. 

These data can be supplemented by analysis of camera-trap data, which will make it possible to estimate variations in the presence of large hosts (notably roe deer) in different wooded areas.

Contacts

Thierry Hoch (BIOEPAR)

Suzanne Bastian (BIOEPAR)

Emily Walker (BioSP)

Manon Guillaumin (BIOEPAR)