{"id":89,"date":"2019-01-10T23:09:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T23:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-rockland-biology\/?post_type=chapter&p=89"},"modified":"2019-03-14T19:00:22","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T19:00:22","slug":"introduction-5","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecology\/chapter\/introduction-5\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction","rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"
<\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"659\"]\" Figure 1: The (a) deer tick carries the bacterium that produces Lyme disease in humans, often evident in (b) a symptomatic bull\u2019s eye rash. The (c) white-footed mouse is one well-known host to deer ticks carrying the Lyme disease bacterium. (credit a: modification of work by Scott Bauer, USDA ARS; credit b: modification of work by James Gathany, CDC; credit c: modification of work by Rob Ireton)[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\n

Why study ecology? Perhaps you are interested in learning about the natural world and how living things have adapted to the physical conditions of their environment. Or, perhaps you\u2019re a future physician seeking to understand the connection between human health and ecology.<\/p>\r\n

Humans are a part of the ecological landscape, and human health is one important part of human interaction with our physical and living environment. Lyme disease, for instance, serves as one modern-day example of the connection between our health and the natural world ([Figure 1]<\/a>). More formally known as Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans when they are bitten by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis<\/em>), which is the primary vector for this disease. However, not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans, and I. scapularis <\/em>can have other hosts besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection depends on the type of host upon which the tick develops: a higher proportion of ticks that live on white-footed mice carry the bacterium than do ticks that live on deer. Knowledge about the environments and population densities in which the host species is abundant would help a physician or an epidemiologist better understand how Lyme disease is transmitted and how its incidence could be reduced.<\/p>","rendered":"

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\"Photo<\/p>\n

Figure 1: The (a) deer tick carries the bacterium that produces Lyme disease in humans, often evident in (b) a symptomatic bull\u2019s eye rash. The (c) white-footed mouse is one well-known host to deer ticks carrying the Lyme disease bacterium. (credit a: modification of work by Scott Bauer, USDA ARS; credit b: modification of work by James Gathany, CDC; credit c: modification of work by Rob Ireton)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Why study ecology? Perhaps you are interested in learning about the natural world and how living things have adapted to the physical conditions of their environment. Or, perhaps you\u2019re a future physician seeking to understand the connection between human health and ecology.<\/p>\n

Humans are a part of the ecological landscape, and human health is one important part of human interaction with our physical and living environment. Lyme disease, for instance, serves as one modern-day example of the connection between our health and the natural world ([Figure 1]<\/a>). More formally known as Lyme borreliosis, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans when they are bitten by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis<\/em>), which is the primary vector for this disease. However, not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans, and I. scapularis <\/em>can have other hosts besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection depends on the type of host upon which the tick develops: a higher proportion of ticks that live on white-footed mice carry the bacterium than do ticks that live on deer. Knowledge about the environments and population densities in which the host species is abundant would help a physician or an epidemiologist better understand how Lyme disease is transmitted and how its incidence could be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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