{"id":1802,"date":"2018-05-04T13:46:37","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T13:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osbiology2e\/chapter\/introduction-47\/"},"modified":"2018-07-03T17:10:53","modified_gmt":"2018-07-03T17:10:53","slug":"introduction-47","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-osbiology2e\/chapter\/introduction-47\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction","rendered":"Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"600\"]\"Photo 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]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\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 your patients' health and their environment.<\/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)<\/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> in the eastern U.S., and Ixodes pacificus<\/em> along the Pacific coast). Deer ticks are the primary vectors<\/em> (a vector is an organism that transmits a pathogen) for this disease. However, not all ticks carry the pathogen, and not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans. Also, the ticks I. scapularis<\/em> and pacificus<\/em> can have other hosts besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection<\/em> 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

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<\/div>\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 your patients’ health and their environment.<\/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)<\/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> in the eastern U.S., and Ixodes pacificus<\/em> along the Pacific coast). Deer ticks are the primary vectors<\/em> (a vector is an organism that transmits a pathogen) for this disease. However, not all ticks carry the pathogen, and not all deer ticks carry the bacteria that will cause Lyme disease in humans. Also, the ticks I. scapularis<\/em> and pacificus<\/em> can have other hosts besides deer. In fact, it turns out that the probability of infection<\/em> 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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