Shortage of Acorns Means No Shortage of Lyme Disease

December is the traditional season for acorns – but climate change has had a dramatic effect on acorn yields this winter; and that threatens to have a dramatic effect on Lyme disease statistics, too.

Mark Ashton, forest ecologist at Yale University, has recorded a curious phenomenon. Despite 2010 being a bumper season for the oak tree harvest, this year trees are shedding just 10% of their usual yield of acorns.

“Scarlet oak, black oak, true red oak,” Ashton told the New York Times. “These are the ones that dominate our forest, and these are the ones that aren’t producing acorns this year.”

In a normal year, oak trees produce up to 30lbs of acorns. This fall, trees are shedding less than a pound throughout the northeastern United States.

The effects on the ecosystem threaten to be significant – especially since last year saw a bumper crop and a resultant explosion in the bird, squirrel and mouse population. Those animals now face nothing short of starvation because of the 2011 shortfall.

This will impact humans too. White-footed mice, and other small woodland mammals that are the most frequent host for the Lyme disease carrying tick, will die off in vast numbers. With mice and squirrels starving, ticks will look elsewhere for their blood hosts – including humans.

Richard S. Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, N.Y., warns: “We expect 2012 to be the worst year for Lyme disease risk ever.” He points out that the ixodes scapularis tick, which is the worst offender for the spread of Lyme disease, can aggressively seek out new hosts including people.

With 70% of tick bites already occurring in the garden or yard, an uptick (no pun intended) in tick bites seems inevitable – but there is something homeowners can do to protect themselves and their families.

A yard spray for ticks by a tick control specialist, like Aspenn Environmental Services, can help you get rid of ticks from your yard or garden and prevent tick bites. Additional tick spray treatments throughout the year will also help eliminate ticks that might get carried into your garden by deer, mice or birds; again helping reduce your risk of being bitten.

With ticks looking to be more aggressive than ever in 2012, investing in a tick control program now is more important than ever before.