Poleward expansion of the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) under climate change: implications for the spread of lyme disease

PLoS One. 2013 Nov 18;8(11):e80724. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080724. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is an important reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, and its distribution is expanding northward. We used an Ecological Niche Factor Analysis to identify the climatic factors associated with the distribution shift of the white-footed mouse over the last 30 years at the northern edge of its range, and modeled its current and potential future (2050) distributions using the platform BIOMOD. A mild and shorter winter is favouring the northern expansion of the white-footed mouse in Québec. With more favorable winter conditions projected by 2050, the distribution range of the white-footed mouse is expected to expand further northward by 3° latitude. We also show that today in southern Québec, the occurrence of B. burgdorferi is associated with high probability of presence of the white-footed mouse. Changes in the distribution of the white-footed mouse will likely alter the geographical range of B. burgdorferi and impact the public health in northern regions that have yet to be exposed to Lyme disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Borrelia burgdorferi
  • Climate Change*
  • Disease Vectors*
  • Geography
  • Lyme Disease / epidemiology*
  • Lyme Disease / transmission
  • Mice
  • Peromyscus* / microbiology
  • Population Dynamics
  • Population Growth
  • Quebec

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Ouranos Consortium (Fonds vert, PACC 26 - Ouranos) to VM, awards from the Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science (QCBS) and the Global Environmental and Climate Change Center (GEC3) to ERD, and a NSERC Discovery grant to GC. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.