Tick habitats

Ticks are often found in forests and can be also found in abundance in moorlands in the north and west of the UK, in areas with high numbers of grazing sheep (38).  However ticks are not only found in forests, pastures or moorland, but also in sub-urban and urban areas (39-41).

Habitats characterized by thick ground vegetation and deep leaf litter can provide moister and milder micro-climates, which favour tick questing and survival (34,35). A questing tick will climb up vegetation and extend its front legs awaiting a host. Deciduous and mixed woodland offer conditions which are ideal  to tick survival. Forests also provide favoured habitat for ticks hosts, such as deer (24). The abundance of I. ricinus is often higher in forests compared to open habitats such as pastures and moorland (36), because of (i) higher densities of hosts such as deer and (ii) open habitats are less sheltered and more exposed to direct sunlight, having higher saturation deficits, which can lead to a decreased  number of ticks, especially when compared with woodlands (34), but the main reason is because deer and other important tick hosts prefer woodlands (reviewed by (37)).