Of mice and moths--and Lyme disease?
Kaiser, J.
Science 279(5353): 984-985
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9490486 Document Number: 494896
Ecologists have uncovered a web of interactions that may govern increases of Lyme disease and tree-ravaging gypsy moths. In a three-year study described in this issue, a team led by Clive Jones and Richard Ostfeld of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York, traced the connections between several forest species to show that bumper crops of acorns produce an explosion of mice. These in turn protect the oak trees by eating gypsy moths but also host ticks that can spread Lyme disease. Some epidemiologists, however, say that this research does not have much predictive value, given that too many other factors determine Lyme disease outbreaks.