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After more than 35 years, the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies has published the results of a long-term study into the ecology of Lyme Disease. The study, which was co-authored by Bard Professor and David & Rosalie Rose Distinguished Chair of the Sciences, Mathematics, and Computing Felicia Keesing and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, aimed to better understand how ticks, bacteria, climate, plants, and mammals interact to spread Lyme, a disease with nearly half a million new sufferers every year that affects the heart, joints, and nervous system. 

The study found that mice, not deer, may be the more relevant hosts of Lyme-carrying ticks, which could reshape how scientists think about tick-borne disease. “On balance, these surprises have enriched our knowledge of this system, helping us to inform management of tick-borne disease risk,” says Richard Ostfeld, the paper's lead author. The study, conducted on 2,000 acres of forest in New York's Dutchess County, is particularly noteworthy for having run continuously for nearly 40 years. Such long-term studies provide invaluable longitudinal data, revealing trends and patterns that shorter studies may miss. “Studies of this depth and length are incredibly rare,” says Shannon LaDeau, who co-directs the research program at the Cary Institute. “The evolution of understanding summarized in this paper is something you simply cannot get without such a long-term and system-focused study.”