817
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_94
Chapter 94
The Problem of Interdependency
94.1 The Challenges of Collaboration
A clear orientation to the natural world around us sets in, within seconds of
considering our politicized options as both ideal and praxis, abiding in either case
by obvious implications of biological interdependency. A fine case in point: Bambi
in a Massachusetts forest. Hardwood swamplands, oaks, pines, hemlocks, other
hardwoods, and, therein, large numbers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) capable of transmitting the epidemic deer tick infections. Not just the ubiquitous Lyme disease, “the most prevalent infectious disease in Massachusetts…now
considered to be a public health crisis… [but other] pathogens which cause
Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, relapsing fever and Powassan virus, all of which can be
very serious.”
1
In 2018, the state of Massachusetts saw over 67,000 cases of Lyme
disease, a “66,000 percent increase… in just 25 years.”
2
Throughout America, there
were an estimated 380,000 victims in 2015.
3
The Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum), and the Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis), as well as at least seven
1 “One Deer Tick Bite Can Change Your Life,” May 15, 2018, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, https://ag.umass.edu/cafe/news/
tick-talk-time-2018, Accessed September 12, 2019.
2 “Tick Borne-Diseases are Skyrocketing in Eastern Massachusetts. Is the Lack of Hunting Access
to Blame?” By Thomas Gerencer, Outdoor Life, September 5, 2019, https://www.outdoorlife.com/
tick-borne-diseases-are-on-rise-in-eastern-massachusetts-is-lack-hunting-access-to-blame/,
Accessed September 14, 2019.
3 “Lyme disease: ‘Public health time bomb’ in the Berkshires environment,” by William
P. Densmore, April 19, 2018, https://theberkshireedge.com/lyme-disease-public-health-timebomb-in-the-berkshires-environment/, Accessed September 14, 2019; See also, “Surveillance for
Lyme Disease – United States, 2008–2015,” Surveillance Summaries/November 10, 2017/66(22);1–
12, by Amy M. Schwartz, MPH; Alison F. Hinckley, PhD; Paul S. Mead, MD; Sarah A. Hook, MA,
Kiersten J. Kugeler, PhD, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), CDC, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6622a1.htm?s_
cid=ss6622a1_w, Accessed September 14, 2019.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_94
Chapter 94
The Problem of Interdependency
94.1 The Challenges of Collaboration
A clear orientation to the natural world around us sets in, within seconds of
considering our politicized options as both ideal and praxis, abiding in either case
by obvious implications of biological interdependency. A fine case in point: Bambi
in a Massachusetts forest. Hardwood swamplands, oaks, pines, hemlocks, other
hardwoods, and, therein, large numbers of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) capable of transmitting the epidemic deer tick infections. Not just the ubiquitous Lyme disease, “the most prevalent infectious disease in Massachusetts…now
considered to be a public health crisis… [but other] pathogens which cause
Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, relapsing fever and Powassan virus, all of which can be
very serious.”
1
In 2018, the state of Massachusetts saw over 67,000 cases of Lyme
disease, a “66,000 percent increase… in just 25 years.”
2
Throughout America, there
were an estimated 380,000 victims in 2015.
3
The Dog Tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum), and the Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis), as well as at least seven
1 “One Deer Tick Bite Can Change Your Life,” May 15, 2018, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, The Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, https://ag.umass.edu/cafe/news/
tick-talk-time-2018, Accessed September 12, 2019.
2 “Tick Borne-Diseases are Skyrocketing in Eastern Massachusetts. Is the Lack of Hunting Access
to Blame?” By Thomas Gerencer, Outdoor Life, September 5, 2019, https://www.outdoorlife.com/
tick-borne-diseases-are-on-rise-in-eastern-massachusetts-is-lack-hunting-access-to-blame/,
Accessed September 14, 2019.
3 “Lyme disease: ‘Public health time bomb’ in the Berkshires environment,” by William
P. Densmore, April 19, 2018, https://theberkshireedge.com/lyme-disease-public-health-timebomb-in-the-berkshires-environment/, Accessed September 14, 2019; See also, “Surveillance for
Lyme Disease – United States, 2008–2015,” Surveillance Summaries/November 10, 2017/66(22);1–
12, by Amy M. Schwartz, MPH; Alison F. Hinckley, PhD; Paul S. Mead, MD; Sarah A. Hook, MA,
Kiersten J. Kugeler, PhD, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), CDC, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6622a1.htm?s_
cid=ss6622a1_w, Accessed September 14, 2019.