Impact of life stage-dependent dispersal on the colonization dynamics of host patches by ticks and tick-borne infectious agents

Background: when colonization and gene flow depend on host-mediated dispersal,a key factor affecting vector dispersal potential is the time spent on the host for the blood meal,a characteristic that can vary strongly among life history stages. using a 2-patch vector-pathogen population model and seabird ticks as biological examples,we explore how vector colonization rates and the spread of infectious agents may be shaped by life stage-dependent dispersal. we contrast hard (ixodidae) and soft (argasidae) tick systems,which differ strongly in blood- feeding traits. results: we find that vector life history characteristics (i.e. length of blood meal) and demographic constraints (allee effects) condition the colonization potential of ticks; hard ticks,which take a single,long blood meal per life stage,should have much higher colonization rates than soft ticks,which take repeated short meals. moreover,this dispersal potential has direct consequences for the spread of vector-borne infectious agents,in particular when transmission is transovarial. conclusions: these results have clear implications for predicting the dynamics of vector and disease spread in the context of large-scale environmental change. the findings highlight the need to include life-stage dispersal in models that aim to predict species and disease distributions,and provide testable predictions related to the population genetic structure of vectors and pathogens along expansion fronts. © 2017 the author(s).