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Lyme Disease is a potentially serious bacterial infection that is transmitted to humans by certain ticks. Ecological studies have found that people are more likely to get Lyme disease when acorns are plentiful. Why? Because mice and deer, which carry the disease and the ticks, feed on acorns. More acorns usually mean more mice and deer, providing a favorable environment for large populations of ticks to flourish. Knowing the connections between acorns, deer, mice, and ticks, ecologists are able to predict the likelihood of infection and let people know when they need to be more careful when outdoors.Photo credit: A. K. Brody. Ecology, February, 2010.
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