Warming mountains are unlocking new homes for ticks
As alpine temperatures rise, blood-sucking parasites are scaling the Alps and moving into Scandinavia, turning once-frozen peaks into fertile hunting grounds for disease.
The hardy castor bean tick, Ixodes ricinus, was once confined to the humid lowlands of Europe, held back by a thermal ceiling that made high-altitude survival impossible. Today, that invisible barrier is crumbling as mountain slopes warm, providing the 1,000 degree-days of heat these parasites need to complete their life cycles. Field surveys in the Alps show ticks have marched hundreds of meters up the mountainside, successfully establishing colonies in regions that were ecologically off-limits just a few decades ago.
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