Samenvatting

Lyme borreliosis, commonly known as Lyme disease, is a vector-borne disease that is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Infected ticks can transmit this disease and infect humans. Decreasing human Lyme infections could be achieved by vegetation control , since mortality and questing behavior of ticks are related to relative humidity and temperature which may be regulated through vegetation control. The main objective of this study was to determine whether and how daily fluctuating temperatures, relative humidity and saturation deficit affect questing behaviour and mortality of the sheep tick Ixodes ricinus. Although there is not yet a clear scientific explanation for this dramatic increase, possible explanations include increase in populations of infected ticks, changes in recreational behaviour, creation of ecological connections between nature areas, changes in host abundance and recent milder winters