Change of eco-epidemiological parameters for the seabird-tick-Borrelia host-parasite system on Hornoeya, Eastern Finnmark, Norway

The study system is a host-parasite system at three levels, involving arctic seabirds, specifically the Black-legged Kittiwake _Rissa tridactyla_, as hosts, the tick Ixodes uriae as their ectoparasite and Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi as a microparasite.

The role of the variability in host phenotypic responses (immunology and behaviour) and of the coevolution between the hosts and the vector tick for the ecology and evolution of such interactions at different scales are studied. In addition to laboratory analyses, the approach combines field experiment to the analyses of data and samples collected in a spatialised context. Field surveys and sampling conducted on a series of study plots within the island of Hornoeya, Northern Norway, provides data on the level of exposure of Black-legged kittiwake nestlings to the tick _Ixodes uriae_ (data gathered for each year since 1998) and the proportion of Black-legged breeding adults seropositive to Borrelia burgdoferi sensu lato (data gathered for each year since 2003).