Interactions of gulf cordgrass, Spartina spartinae (Trin.) Merr. ex Hitchc., habitat with ixodids on the South Texas coastal plain

Environmental Systems Research

Table 3 Mean (±SE) numbers of ticks collected in winter, spring, and summer seasons of 2018 per 50 m flag transect sample in S. spartinae-dominated areas and in habitats comprised of mixed vegetation typical of low-salinity soils, Cameron and Willacy counties, Texas

Season 2018^a	Habitat^b	Tick life stage^b			Total ticks^c
Season 2018^a	Habitat^b	Larvae	Nymphs	Adults	Total ticks^c
Winter	Gulf cordgrass	0.54 ± 0.17	0.61 ± 0.17	0.04 ± 0.04	1.18 ± 0.28
Winter	Mixed low-salinity Vegetation	0.96 ± 0.24	0.89 ± 0.19	0.04 ± 0.04	1.89 ± 0.38
Spring	Gulf cordgrass	4.2 ± 2.5	2.9 ± 0.8	0.06 ± 0.06	7.2 ± 2.8
Spring	Mixed low-salinity vegetation	15.5 ± 13.5	3.6 ± 1.9	0.06 ± 0.06	19.2 ± 13.3
Summer	Gulf cordgrass	12.2 ± 8.1	0.7 ± 0.3b	0.2 ± 0.1	13.2 ± 8.1
	Mixed low-salinity vegetation	6.4 ± 3.6	4.1 ± 1.6a	0.4 ± 0.2	10.8 ± 3.9

Means followed by different letters within each season and tick life stage are significantly different (P < 0.05)
^aWinter, 26 Feb – 1 Mar; spring, 23–26 Apr; summer, 11–13 Jun 2018
^bThe gulf cordgrass habitat was comprised of ≥80% S. spartinae, mixed low-salinity vegetation habitat typically included grasses (mostly hairy crabgrass, Digitaria sanguinalis; buffelgrass, Pennisetum ciliare (L.) Link; Vasey’s grass, Paspalum urvillei Steud.; and dallis grass, P. dilatatum Poir.) and broadleaf species (e.g., zarza, Mimosa pigra L.; false prairie willow, Baccharis texana (Torrey and A. Gray) A. Gray; and lote bush, Ziziphus obtusfolia (W. Hooker ex J. Torrey & A. Gray) A. Gray
^cTick species were not identified