Lyme disease risk not amplified in a species-poor vertebrate community: Similar Borrelia burgdorferi tick infection prevalence and OspC genotype frequencies
Abstract The effect of biodiversity declines on human health is currently debated, but empirical assessments are lacking. Lyme disease provides a model system to assess relationships between biodiversity and human disease because the etiologic agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, is transmitted in the United States by the generalist black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) among a wide range…