Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Number and Status of Populations of Small Mammals as Carriers of Human Natural Focal Diseases in the Karelian Northeastern Ladoga Region

  • Published:
Biology Bulletin Reviews Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract—

The results of studies lasting for more than half a century (1966–2018) of the population ecology and population dynamics of small mammals involved in the formation and functioning of natural foci of human vector-borne diseases (such as encephalitis and tularemia) common in the Northeastern Ladoga region and intensely functioning here in conditions of the intense anthropogenic transformation of taiga ecosystems are summarized. Local landscapes belonging to the subzone of the middle taiga forests and representing the northern periphery of the area for most of the studied small animal species are constantly experiencing the most powerful anthropogenic pressure, which leads to a decrease in the number and general depletion of the species composition of the members of original taiga fauna of small mammals. Of the 22 species of small mammals registered here, the common shrew and bank vole absolutely dominate. The short-tailed field vole, Eurasian pygmy, and Laxmann’s shrews come next by the degree of dominance in the counts. Other species are relatively rare and not numerous. At the same time, the forest bank voles play the main role in the feeding of ticks and, accordingly, in the circulation of infections and in differentiated contribution of some intrapopulation groups in maintaining the number of vectors and activity of pathogens, while the shrews are significantly inferior to them in this respect and are more typical the larval stages of the tick. The overall total index of records of the number of small animals by trap lines throughout the studied territory varies by years from 0.34 to 18.5 individuals per 100 trap-days and is on average 7.8; by pitfall traps, from 2.7 to 25.4 individuals per 10 trap-days (on average 14.0). This makes it possible to attribute the studied territory to the areas with a relatively low number of small mammals, which is significantly inferior to its average level typical of other regions of Europe located to the south. Nevertheless, the studies determine a rather intense epidemic situation here, steadfastly supported with their involvement in a mass feeding of the carriers of natural focal infections.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Alekseev, A.N., The present knowledge of tick-borne encephalitis vectors, Vopr. Virusol., 2007, no. 5, pp. 22–26.

  2. Anderson, J.F., Main, A.J., Andreadis, T.G., et al., Transstadial transfer of West Nile virus by three species of ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae), J. Med. Entomol., 2003, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 528–533.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Antykova, N.P., Bag, D.A., Bag, E.A., et al., Ixodid ticks (Acarina, Ixodidae), tick-borne encephalitis, and Lyme borreliosis in the city of St. Petersburg, Problemy Entomologii v Rossii, 1998, no. 1, p. 22.

  4. Balashov, Yu.S., Features of the ixodid tick—vertebrates parasitic system, Parazitologiya, 1992, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 185–195.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Balashov, Yu.S., Bochkov, A.V., Vashchenok, V.S., and Tret’yakov, K.A., Structure and seasonal dynamics of an ectoparasite community on the common shrew (Sorex araneus) in the Il’men’-Volkhov lowland, Parazitologiya, 2003, vol. 37, pp. 441–454.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bashenina, N.V., Ekologiya obyknovennoi polevki i nekotorye cherty ee geograficheskoi izmenchivosti (Ecology of the Common Vole and Some Features of Its Geographical Variability), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1962.

  7. Bolotin, E.I., Osobennosti ochagov kleshchevogo entsefalita na yuge Dal’nego Vostoka (Features of Tick-Borne Encephalitis Foci in the South of the Far East), Vladivostok, 1991.

  8. Flint, V.E., Types of spatial structure of small mammal populations, in Populyatsionnaya struktura vida u mlekopitayushchikh (Population Structure of the Mammal Species), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1970, pp. 161–163.

  9. Flint, V.E., Prostranstvennaya struktura populyatsii melkikh mlekopitayushchikh (Spatial Structure of Small Mammal Populations), Moscow: Nauka, 1977.

  10. Formozov, A.N., Small rodents and insectivores of the Sharya district of the Kostroma oblast in 1930–1940, in Materialy po gryzunam (Materials on Rodents), Moscow: Mosk. O-vo Ispyt. Prir., 1948., vol. 3, pp. 3–110.

  11. Glotov, I.N., Erdakov, L.N., Kuzyakin, V.A., et al., Soobshchestva melkikh mlekopitayushchikh Baraby (Small Mammal Communities in Baraba), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1978.

  12. Guthrie, A.J., Howell, P.G., Gardner, L.A., et al., West Nile virus infection of thoughbred horses in South Africa (2000–2001), Equine Vet. J., 2003, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 601–605.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Ivanova, N.V., Role of small mammals in the foci of natural infections in the anthropogenically transformed territory of the southeast of Western Siberia, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Tomsk: Tomsk State University, 2009.

  14. Ivanter, E.V., Populyatsionnaya ekologiya melkikh mlekopitayushchikh taezhnogo Severo-Zapada SSSR (Population Ecology of Small Mammals in the Taiga North-West of the USSR), Leningrad: Nauka LO, 1975.

  15. Ivanter, E.V., Osnovy prakticheskoi biometrii (Fundamentals of Practical Biometrics), Petrozavodsk: Kareliya, 1979.

  16. Ivanter, E.V., Ocherki populyatsionnoi ekologii melkikh mlekopitayushchikh na severnoi periferii areala (Essays on the Population Ecology of Small Mammals on the Northern Periphery of Their Habitat), Moscow: KMK, 2018.

  17. Ivanter, E.V. and Korosov, A.V., Osnovy biometrii: Vvedenie v statisticheskii analiz biologicheskikh yavlenii i protsessov. Uchebnoe posobie (Fundamentals of Biometrics: Introduction to Statistical Analysis of Biological Phenomena and Processes), Petrozavodsk: Petrozadodsk. Gos. Univ., 1992.

  18. Ivanter, E.V. and Korosov, A.V., Vvedenie v kolichestvennuyu biologiyu: uchebnoe posobie (Introduction to Quantitative Biology: Textbook), Petrozavodsk: Petrozavodsk. Gos. Univ., 2014, 3rd ed.

  19. Karaseva, E.V., Ecological characteristics of mammals— carriers of Leptospira grippotyphoza and their role in natural foci of leptospirosis, in Fauna i ekologiya gryzunov (Fauna and Ecology of Rodents), Moscow: Mosk. Gos. Univ., 1971, vol. 10, pp. 30–144.

  20. Karaseva, E.V., Telitsyna, A.Yu., and Zhigal’skii, O.A., Metody izucheniya gryzunov v polevykh usloviyakh (Methods for Studying Rodents in the Field), Moscow: LKI, 2008.

  21. Korenberg, E. and Likhacheva, T., Analysis of the long-term dynamics of tick-borne encephalis (TBE) and ixodid tick-borne borreloioses (ITBB) morbidity in Russia, Int. J. Med. Microbiol., 2006, vol. 296, suppl. 40, pp. 54–58.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Korenberg, E.I., Study and prevention of mixed infections transmitted by ixodid ticks, Vestn. Ross. Akad. Med. Nauk, 2001, no. 11, pp. 41–45.

  23. Korenberg, E.I., Borreliosis (infections of the Lyme borreliosis group), Chastnaya Epidemiologiya, 2022, vol. 2, pp. 20–24.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Korenberg, E.I., Gorelova, N.V., and Kovalevskii, Yu.V., Main features of natural focality of ixodid tick-borne borreliosis in Russia, Parazitologiya, 2002, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 177–191.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Korenberg, E.I., Pomelova, V.G., and Osin, N.S., Prirodnoochagovye infektsii, peredayushchiesya iksodovymi kleshchami (Natural Focal Infections Transmitted by Ixodid Ticks), Moscow: Nauka, 2013.

  26. Kovalevskii, Yu.V. and Korenberg, E.I., Spatial structure of forest mouse-like rodent populations in natural foci of human diseases, Prirodno-Ochagovye Infektsii i Invazii, 1974, pp. 112–115.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Kucheruk, V.V., Izbrannye trudy (Selected Works), Moscow: KMK, 2006.

  28. L’vov, D.K. and Zlobin, V.I., Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis at the present stage: Strategy and tactics, Vopr. Virusol., 2007, no. 5, pp. 26–30.

  29. Moskvitina, N.S., Nikolaeva, O.G., Kravchenko, L.G., et al., Some features of the formation and development of the rodent community in urban conditions, Gryzuny (Sverdlovsk), 1988, vol. 3, pp. 31–32.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Naumov, N.P., Ocherki sravnitel’noi ekologii myshevidnykh gryzunov (Essays on the Comparative Ecology of Mouse-Like Rodents), Leningrad: Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1948.

  31. Odum, E.P., Fundamentals of Ecology, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Okulova, N.M., Biologicheskie vzaimosvyazi v lesnykh ekosistemakh na primere prirodnykh ochagov kleshchevogo entsefalita (Biological Relationships in Forest Ecosystems Based on the Example of Natural Foci of Tick-Borne Encephalitis), Moscow: Nauka, 1986.

  33. Onishchenko, G.G., Fedorov, Yu.M., and Pakskina, N.D., Organization of supervision of tick-borne encephalitis and ways of its prevention in the Russian Federation, Vopr. Virusol., 2007, no. 5, pp. 8–10.

  34. Shilova, S.A., Troitskii, B.B., Mal’kov, B.S., and Bel’kovich, B.M., The importance of the mobility of forest mouse-like rodents in the distribution of Ixodes persulcatus F. Sch ticks in the foci of spring-summer encephalitis, Zool. Zh., 1958, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 931–938.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Shvarts, S.S., Ways of adaptation of terrestrial vertebrates to living conditions in the Subarctic, Vol. 1, Mammals, Tr. Inst. Biol. Ural’sk. Filiala Akad. Nauk SSSR (Sverdlovsk), 1963, no. 33.

  36. Solomonov, N.G., Experience in studying the population ecology of rodents and the mountain hare in central Yakutia, Extended Absract of Doctoral (Biol.) Dissertation, Tomsk: Tomsk State University, 1971.

  37. Tast, J., Influence in the root vole, Microtus oeconomus (Pallas) upon the habitat selection of the field vole (Microtus agrestis L.) in Northern Finland, Suomalais Tiedekat, 1968, vol. A4, no. 136, pp. 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Vorontsov, N.N., Ecological and some morphological features of bank voles (Clethrionomys tilestus) in the European northeast, Tr. Zool. Inst. Akad Nauk SSSR (Leningrad), 1961, vol. 29, pp. 101–136.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Zlobin, V.I., The current state of the problem of tick-borne encephalitis in Russia and the world, Vopr. Virusol., 2005, no. 3, pp. 26–32.

Download references

Funding

This work was carried out within the State Task of the Federal Research Center Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodsk, Russia

    E. V. Ivanter

  2. Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk, Russia

    E. V. Ivanter

Authors
  1. E. V. Ivanter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. V. Ivanter.

Ethics declarations

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.

This article does not contain any studies involving human participants or animals as subjects of the study.

Additional information

Translated by A. Barkhash

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ivanter, E.V. Number and Status of Populations of Small Mammals as Carriers of Human Natural Focal Diseases in the Karelian Northeastern Ladoga Region. Biol Bull Rev 13, 637–646 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086423060099

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086423060099

Keywords:

Search

Navigation