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Soils are important for ecosystem functions and services. However, soil processes are complex and changes of solid phase soil properties, such as soil organic matter contents are slow. As a consequence, a comprehensive understanding of the role of soil in the biodiversity-ecosystem functioning (BEF) relationship is still lacking. Thus, long-term observations and experiments are needed in biodiversity research in order to better understand how biodiversity influences soil properties and thus the BEF relationships. To elucidate the integrated response of soil-related functions and processes to plant diversity, we reviewed literature on the water, nutrient and carbon cycles in biodiversity research with specific focus on the Jena Experiment. Furthermore, we took advantage of the long-term observations of water, nutrient and carbon dynamics gathered in the Jena Experiment to investigate changes of the plant diversity effect over time on theses cycles and the accompanying plant-microbial interactions. We found that soil organic carbon and soil nitrogen stocks in the top 15cm constantly increased over time and that this increase was positively related to plant species richness. In contrast, the concentrations of the quantitatively most important nutrient ions nitrate and phosphate in soil solution decreased with time, likely because of the ongoing removal of nutrients by plant biomass harvest. We furthermore observed a shift in the microbial community composition, which was triggered by an increased availability of plant-derived carbon at higher plant species richness over time, suggesting that plant communities compensated for nutrient losses by stimulating the microbial nutrient cycling. In addition, water including dissolved nutrients and carbon percolated deeper in plots of higher plant diversity. Thereby, higher plant diversity spatially extended the nutrient cycling through the microbial communities to deeper soil layers from which nutrients are transferred to the topsoil by deep-rooting plants. Although microbial nutrient cycling cannot fully compensate for negative plant diversity effects on nutrient availability in soil solution, this suggests that over time the role of plant-derived inputs becomes increasingly important for ecosystem functioning. It furthermore implies that plant species richness tightens plant-microbial interactions, which in the long-term feed back on other ecosystem functions, such as productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests play a major role in the global carbon cycle, and droughts have been shown to explain much of the interannual variability in the terrestrial carbon sink capacity. The quantification of drought legacy effects on ecosystem carbon fluxes is a challenging task, and research on the ecosystem scale remains sparse. In this study we investigate the delayed response of an extreme drought event on the carbon cycle in the mixed deciduous forest site 'Hohes Holz' (DE-HoH) located in Central Germany, using the measurements taken between 2015 and 2020. Our analysis demonstrates that the extreme drought and heat event in 2018 had strong legacy effects on the carbon cycle in 2019, but not in 2020. On an annual basis, net ecosystem productivity was ∼ 16 % higher in 2018 ( ∼ 424 g C m - 2 ) and ∼ 25 % lower in 2019 ( ∼ 274 g C m - 2 ) compared to pre-drought years ( ∼ 367 g C m - 2 ). Using spline regression, we show that while current hydrometeorological conditions can explain forest productivity in 2020, they do not fully explain the decrease in productivity in 2019. Including long-term drought information in the statistical model reduces overestimation error of productivity in 2019 by nearly 50 % . We also found that short-term drought events have positive impacts on the carbon cycle at the beginning of the vegetation season, but negative impacts in later summer, while long-term drought events have generally negative impacts throughout the growing season. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering the diverse and complex impacts of extreme events on ecosystem fluxes, including the timing, temporal scale, and magnitude of the events, and the need to use consistent definitions of drought to clearly convey immediate and delayed responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diversity is an important driver of below‐ground ecosystem functions, such as root growth, soil organic matter (SOM) storage and microbial metabolism, mainly by influencing the interactions between plant roots and soil. Dissolved organic matter (DOM), as the most mobile form of SOM, plays a crucial role for a multitude of soil processes that are central for ecosystem functioning. Thus, DOM is likely to be an important mediator of plant diversity effects on soil processes. However, the relationships between plant diversity and DOM have not been studied so far.We investigated the mechanisms underlying plant diversity effects on concentrations of DOM using continuous soil water sampling across 6 years and 62 plant communities in a long‐term grassland biodiversity experiment in Jena, Germany. Furthermore, we investigated plant diversity effects on the molecular properties of DOM in a subset of the samples.Although DOM concentrations were highly variable over the course of the year with highest concentrations in summer and autumn, we found that DOM concentrations consistently increased with plant diversity across seasons. The positive plant diversity effect on DOM concentrations was mainly mediated by increased microbial activity and newly sequestered carbon in topsoil. However, the effect of soil microbial activity on DOM concentrations differed between seasons, indicating DOM consumption in winter and spring, and DOM production in summer and autumn. Furthermore, we found increased contents of small and easily decomposable DOM molecules reaching deeper soil layers with high plant diversity.Synthesis. Our findings suggest that plant diversity enhances the continuous downward transport of DOM in multiple ways. On the one hand, higher plant diversity results in higher DOM concentrations, on the other hand, this DOM is less degraded. This study indicates, for the first time, that higher plant diversity enhances the downward transport of dissolved molecules that likely stimulate soil development in deeper layers and therefore increase soil fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical to the reliable application of gridded soil moisture products is a thorough assessment of their quality at spatially compatible scales. While previous studies have attempted to evaluate different soil moisture products, comprehensive assessments at the appropriate scale remain challenging and rare. This study explores the potential of the Cosmic-Ray Soil Moisture Observation System (COSMOS) in Germany for effectively mitigating the scale mismatch between soil moisture products and reference measurements. A newly released extensive COSMOS data set provides time series of hectare-scale soil moisture of the main root zone at different locations in Germany and offers a unique opportunity for a comprehensive quality assessment of 15 commonly-used coarse-scale soil moisture products. Those are either satellite-based (AMSR2 LPRM, ASCAT H115/H116, Sentinel-1 SSM, SMAP L3E, SMOS L3, ASCAT/Sentinel-1 SWI, SMAP/Sentinel-1 L2, CCI Combined, and NOAA SMOPS) or model-based (ERA5-Land, GLDAS-Noah, ASCAT H141/H142, GLEAM, SMAP L4, and SMOS L4). We compared the temporal dynamics of the soil moisture products against that of the COSMOS soil moisture estimates at 21 sites of different land cover types over six years (2015–2020), including the drought of 2018. We found that the model-based products generally yield a higher correlation (0.74) and lower unbiased root-mean-square differences (0.05 m 3 m − 3) than the satellite-based products (0.60 and 0.07 m 3 m − 3 , respectively) against the COSMOS data in Germany. Notably, the application of the exponential filter significantly improves the performance of the products. Conversely, deseasonalized time series of all selected products demonstrate lower performances across all COSMOS sites. Most products show a considerable positive bias, which limits their usability for the assessment of absolute soil water storage. We also found that the land cover type, mean annual soil moisture, and vertical support have notable influences on the performance of the soil moisture products. Additionally, the performances of the soil moisture products show seasonal variations, such that both correlation and bias are highest during the summer season. This study highlights the strengths of COSMOS data as a robust reference for evaluating soil moisture products. Additionally, it provides insights on how to assess, interpret, and improve large-scale soil moisture products. • Quality assessment of 15 soil moisture products from satellites/process-based models. • Data from Cosmic-Ray Soil Moisture Observation Systems (COSMOS) solved as reference. • Model-based products generally agree well with COSMOS soil moisture. • Performance influenced by exponential filter, land cover type, average soil moisture. • Best performance on seasonal variation and long-term trends found during summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Efficient extraction of soil water is essential for the productivity of plant communities. However, research on the complementary use of resources in mixed plant communities, and especially the impact of plant species richness on root water uptake, is limited. So far, these investigations have been hindered by a lack of methods allowing for the estimation of root water uptake profiles. The overarching aim of our study was to determine whether diverse grassland plant communities in general exploit soil water more deeply and whether this shift occurs all the time or only during times of enhanced water demand. Root water uptake was derived by analysing the diurnal decrease in soil water content separately at each measurement depth, thus yielding root water uptake profiles for 12 experimental grasslands communities with two different levels of species richness (4 and 16 sown species). Additional measurements of leaf water potential, stomatal conductance, and root traits were used to identify differences in water relations between plant functional groups. Although the vertical root distribution did not differ between diversity levels, root water uptake shifted towards deeper layers (30 and 60 cm) in more diverse plots during periods of high vapour pressure deficit. Our results indicate that the more diverse communities were able to adjust their root water uptake, resulting in increased water uptake per root area compared to less diverse communities (52% at 20 cm, 118% at 30 cm, and 570% at 60 cm depth) and a more even distribution of water uptake over depth. Tall herbs, which had lower leaf water potential and higher stomatal conductance in more diverse mixtures, contributed disproportionately to dynamic niche partitioning in root water uptake. This study underpins the role of diversity in stabilizing ecosystem function and mitigating drought stress effects during future climate change scenarios. Furthermore, the results provide evidence that root water uptake is not solely controlled by root length density distribution in communities with high plant diversity but also by spatial shifts in water acquisition. A plain language summary is available for this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diversity influences many ecosystem functions including root decomposition. However, due to the presence of multiple pathways via which plant diversity may affect root decomposition, our mechanistic understanding of their relationships is limited. In a grassland biodiversity experiment, we simultaneously assessed the effects of three pathways-root litter quality, soil biota, and soil abiotic conditions-on the relationships between plant diversity (in terms of species richness and the presence/absence of grasses and legumes) and root decomposition using structural equation modeling. Our final structural equation model explained 70% of the variation in root mass loss. However, different measures of plant diversity included in our model operated via different pathways to alter root mass loss. Plant species richness had a negative effect on root mass loss. This was partially due to increased Oribatida abundance, but was weakened by enhanced root potassium (K) concentration in more diverse mixtures. Equally, grass presence negatively affected root mass loss. This effect of grasses was mostly mediated via increased root lignin concentration and supported via increased Oribatida abundance and decreased root K concentration. In contrast, legume presence showed a net positive effect on root mass loss via decreased root lignin concentration and increased root magnesium concentration, both of which led to enhanced root mass loss. Overall, the different measures of plant diversity had contrasting effects on root decomposition. Furthermore, we found that root chemistry and soil biota but not root morphology or soil abiotic conditions mediated these effects of plant diversity on root decomposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation from wet-canopy ( $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ ) and stem ( $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ ) surfaces during rainfall represents a significant portion of municipal-to-global scale hydrologic cycles. For urban ecosystems, $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ and $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ dynamics play valuable roles in stormwater management. Despite this, canopy-interception loss studies typically ignore crown-scale variability in $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ and assume (with few indirect data) that $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ is generally $${<}2\%$$ of total wet-canopy evaporation. We test these common assumptions for the first time with a spatially-distributed network of in-canopy meteorological monitoring and 45 surface temperature sensors in an urban Pinus elliottii tree row to estimate $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ and $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ under the assumption that crown surfaces behave as 'wet bulbs'. From December 2015 through July 2016, 33 saturated crown periods (195 h of 5-min observations) were isolated from storms for determination of 5-min evaporation rates ranging from negligible to 0.67 $$\hbox {mm h}^{-1}$$ . Mean $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ (0.10 $$\hbox {mm h}^{-1}$$ ) was significantly lower ( $$p < 0.01$$ ) than mean $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ (0.16 $$\hbox {mm h}^{-1}$$ ). But, $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ values often equalled $$E_\mathrm{C}$$ and, when scaled to trunk area using terrestrial lidar, accounted for 8-13% (inter-quartile range) of total wet-crown evaporation ( $$E_\mathrm{S}+E_\mathrm{C}$$ scaled to surface area). $$E_\mathrm{S}$$ contributions to total wet-crown evaporation maximized at 33%, showing a general underestimate (by 2-17 times) of this quantity in the literature. Moreover, results suggest wet-crown evaporation from urban tree rows can be adequately estimated by simply assuming saturated tree surfaces behave as wet bulbs, avoiding problematic assumptions associated with other physically-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant diversity enhances many ecosystem functions, including root biomass production, which drives soil carbon input. Although root decomposition accounts for a large proportion of carbon input for soil, little is known about plant diversity effect on this process. Plant diversity may affect root decomposition in two non-exclusive ways: by providing roots of different substrate quality (e.g. root chemistry) and/or by altering the soil environment (e.g. microclimate)., To disentangle these two pathways, we conducted three decomposition experiments using a litter-bag approach in a grassland biodiversity experiment. We hypothesized that: (i) plant species richness negatively affects substrate quality (indicated by increased C:N ratios), which we tested by decomposing roots collected from each experimental plot in one common plot; (ii) plant species richness positively affects soil environment (indicated by increased soil water content), which we tested by decomposing standardized roots in all experimental plots; (iii) the overall effect of plant species richness on root decomposition, due to the contrast between quality and environmental effects, is neutral, which we tested by decomposing community roots in their 'home' plots., Plant species richness negatively affected root decomposition in all three experiments. The negative effect of plant species richness on substrate quality was largely explained by increased root C:N ratios along the diversity gradient. Functional group presence explained more variance in substrate quality than species richness. Here, the presence of grasses negatively affected substrate quality and root C:N ratios, while the presence of legumes and small herbs had positive effects. Plant species richness had a negative effect on soil environment despite its positive effect on soil water content which is known to stimulate decomposition. We argue that - instead of soil water content - a combined effect of soil temperature and seasonality might drive environmental effect of plant diversity on decomposition in our plant communities, but this remains to be tested., Synthesis. Our results demonstrate that both substrate quality and soil environment contribute to the net negative effect of plant diversity on root decomposition. This study promotes our mechanistic understanding of increased soil carbon accumulation in more diverse grassland plant communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selection of an appropriate spatial extent of a sampling plot is one among several important decisions involved in planning a throughfall sampling scheme. In fact, the choice of the extent may determine whether or not a study can adequately characterize the hydrological fluxes of the studied ecosystem. Previous attempts to optimize throughfall sampling schemes focused on the selection of an appropriate sample size, support, and sampling design, while comparatively little attention has been given to the role of the extent. In this contribution, we investigated the influence of the extent on the representativeness of mean throughfall estimates for three forest ecosystems of varying stand structure. Our study is based on virtual sampling of simulated throughfall fields. We derived these fields from throughfall data sampled in a simply structured forest (young tropical forest) and two heterogeneous forests (old tropical forest, unmanaged mixed European beech forest). We then sampled the simulated throughfall fields with three common extents and various sample sizes for a range of events and for accumulated data. Our findings suggest that the size of the study area should be carefully adapted to the complexity of the system under study and to the required temporal resolution of the throughfall data (i.e. event-based versus accumulated). Generally, event-based sampling in complex structured forests (conditions that favor comparatively long autocorrelations in throughfall) requires the largest extents. For event-based sampling, the choice of an appropriate extent can be as important as using an adequate sample size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Soil hydraulic properties drive water distribution and availability in soil. There exists limited knowledge of how plant species diversity might influence soil hydraulic properties. Methods: We quantified the change in infiltration capacity affected by soil structural variables (soil bulk density, porosity and organic carbon content) along a gradient of soil texture, plant species richness (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 60) and functional group composition (grasses, legumes, small herbs, tall herbs). We conducted two infiltration measurement campaigns (May and October 2012) using a hood infiltrometer. Results: Plant species richness significantly increased infiltration capacity in the studied grasslands. Both soil porosity (or inversely bulk density) and organic carbon played an important role in mediating the plant species richness effect. Soil texture did not correlate with infiltration capacity. In spring 2012, earthworm biomass increased infiltration capacity, but this effect could not be attributed to changes in soil structural variables. Conclusions: We experimentally identified important ecological drivers of infiltration capacity, suggesting complex interactions between plant species richness, earthworms, and soil structural variables, while showing little impact of soil texture. Changes in plant species richness may thus have significant effects on soil hydraulic properties with potential consequences for surface run-off and soil erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hospital infections with SARS-CoV-2 continued during the initial waves of the pandemic worldwide. So far, Data on the dynamics of these infections and the economic burden of outbreaks are rare., Methods: We retrospectively analysed SARS-CoV-2 infections in patients, hospital employees and nosocomial infections resulting in outbreaks in two hospitals of a secondary care hospital network in Germany during the initial 3 pandemic waves (03/2020-06/2021). In addition to hospital infections, we evaluated infection prevention strategies and the economic burden of hospital outbreaks., Results: A total of 396 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were hospitalized in both hospitals. The risk factors for severe disease and death increased with age, male sex and a CRB-65 score > 0. The most frequent symptom was dyspnoea (30.1%). Sixty-five patients died, most of whom were in the 2nd wave. A total of 182 (12.5%) hospital employees were infected, 63 (34.6%) of whom were involved in outbreaks. An occupational risk of infection during outbreaks was particularly common among nurses and HCWs working on regular wards. Eleven hospital outbreaks led to high economic impact on both hospitals through the loss of manpower as result of infected employees, temporary locked wards, blocked beds, a reduced number of total hospitalized patients and increased personnel costs., Conclusion: Continuously adaptation of infection prevention strategies is a valuable tool to keep hospitals safe places for patients and employees. We do need more analyses of the different pandemic waves and applied infection prevention strategies to learn from weak points., Trial Registration: This research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and national standards. The study protocol was approved by the relevant ethics committee of the Chamber of Physicians Westphalia-Lippe and University of Münster (no. 2021-475-f-S). The study was registered on 25th August 2021 at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00025865)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Eddy covariance sites are ideally suited for the study of extreme events on ecosystems as they allow the exchange of trace gases and energy fluxes between ecosystems and the lower atmosphere to be directly measured on a continuous basis. However, standardized definitions of hydroclimatic extremes are needed to render studies of extreme events comparable across sites. This requires longer datasets than are available from on-site measurements in order to capture the full range of climatic variability. We present a dataset of drought indices based on precipitation (Standardized Precipitation Index, SPI), atmospheric water balance (Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI), and soil moisture (Standardized Soil Moisture Index, SSMI) for 101 ecosystem sites from the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) with daily temporal resolution from 1950 to 2021. Additionally, we provide simulated soil moisture and evapotranspiration for each site from the Mesoscale Hydrological Model (mHM). These could be utilised for gap-filling or long-term research, among other applications. We validate our data set with measurements from ICOS and discuss potential research avenues., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Earth is home to over 350,000 vascular plant species that differ in their traits in innumerable ways. A key challenge is to predict how natural or anthropogenically driven changes in the identity, abundance and diversity of co-occurring plant species drive important ecosystem-level properties such as biomass production or carbon storage. Here, we analyse the extent to which 42 different ecosystem properties can be predicted by 41 plant traits in 78 experimentally manipulated grassland plots over 10 years. Despite the unprecedented number of traits analysed, the average percentage of variation in ecosystem properties jointly explained was only moderate (32.6%) within individual years, and even much lower (12.7%) across years. Most other studies linking ecosystem properties to plant traits analysed no more than six traits and, when including only six traits in our analysis, the average percentage of variation explained in across-year levels of ecosystem properties dropped to 4.8%. Furthermore, we found on average only 12.2% overlap in significant predictors among ecosystem properties, indicating that a small set of key traits able to explain multiple ecosystem properties does not exist. Our results therefore suggest that there are specific limits to the extent to which traits per se can predict the long-term functional consequences of biodiversity change, so that data on additional drivers, such as interacting abiotic factors, may be required to improve predictions of ecosystem property levels.

Background: With an increasing number of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) being implanted, the need for adequate cardiac rehabilitation (CR) regimens meeting the special needs of these patients arises. Only a few studies have reported experience gained on this topic. Structured CR strategies are poorly implemented. The aim was to evaluate the characteristics, therapeutic needs, and scope of LVAD patients at admission to CR within a greater cohort in order to identify their special CR needs., Methods: Retrospective single-center study; 69 LVAD patients (50.7 ± 13.6 y; 59 male; 48 HVAD; 21 HeartMate II) who completed first inpatient CR were included. Patient records were used to document relevant medical information (including the results of a 6-min walk test and a maximal isometric strength test for quadriceps femoral muscles in both legs) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for classification of health and health-related domains., Results: Patient characteristics demonstrated a heterogeneous group: CR was started 44 ± 38.6 d after implantation; CR duration was 28 ± 9.7 d. Despite similar etiology, physical and psychological condition was diverse, although, overall a high degree of impairment was present, especially in the body function (79.7%) and activity and participation (95.7%) domains. The results demonstrated the need for a highly individualized approach in the somatic and also in the education, psychosocial, and social therapeutic regimes., Conclusion: The results demonstrate a heterogeneous group with a high level of impairment and special needs in many CR domains. The development and evaluation of a special highly individualized approach of CR, which meets the special needs of these patients, is needed.

The impact of species richness and functional diversity of plants on ecosystem water vapor fluxes has been little investigated. To address this knowledge gap, we combined a lysimeter setup in a controlled environment facility (Ecotron) with large ecosystem samples/monoliths originating from a long-term biodiversity experiment (The Jena Experiment) and a modeling approach. Our goals were (1) quantifying the impact of plant species richness (four vs. 16 species) on day- and nighttime ecosystem water vapor fluxes; (2) partitioning ecosystem evapotranspiration into evaporation and plant transpiration using the Shuttleworth and Wallace (SW) energy partitioning model; and (3) identifying the most parsimonious predictors of water vapor fluxes using plant functional-trait-based metrics such as functional diversity and community weighted means. Daytime measured and modeled evapotranspiration were significantly higher in the higher plant diversity treatment, suggesting increased water acquisition. The SW model suggests that, at low plant species richness, a higher proportion of the available energy was diverted to evaporation (a non-productive flux), while, at higher species richness, the proportion of ecosystem transpiration (a productivity-related water flux) increased. While it is well established that LAI controls ecosystem transpiration, here we also identified that the diversity of leaf nitrogen concentration among species in a community is a consistent predictor of ecosystem water vapor fluxes during daytime. The results provide evidence that, at the peak of the growing season, higher leaf area index (LAI) and lower percentage of bare ground at high plant diversity diverts more of the available water to transpiration, a flux closely coupled with photosynthesis and productivity. Higher rates of transpiration presumably contribute to the positive effect of diversity on productivity., (© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.)

A total of 1000 Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected in 2006 and 2007 in a forest region of Central Germany and investigated for Coxiella burnetii. The transposase element IS1111 and isocitrate dehydrogenase gene were targets of the real-time polymerase chain reaction. The pathogen was detected in 19 ticks (1.9%), and interestingly, in 10 of these samples, coinfections with Borrelia spp., spotted fever group rickettsiae, or Babesia spp. were present. Our study reports on C. burnetii infections in I. ricinus ticks in an area where cases of Q fever occur regularly and Dermacentor marginatus is not present. The broad spectrum of copathogens indicates interactions in transmission cycles and the possibility of coinfections in humans in areas where people are in close contact with infected ticks and domestic animals.

Altogether, 430 nymphs and 570 adult Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected in 2006 (n = 506) and 2007 (n = 494) from a forest area in Middle Germany (Thuringia). Single ticks were investigated by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism or sequencing for Borrelia spp. (ospA gene) and Babesia spp. (18S rRNA gene). Overall, 27.0% (270/1000) were infected with Borrelia species. Out of these, Borrelia garinii was detected most frequently (133/270)-especially, OspA serotype 6 (51/270), followed by Bo. burgdorferi (70/270), Bo. afzelii (42/270), Bo. valaisiana subgroup I (28/270), not typable Borrelia spp. (5/270), Bo. spielmanii (3/270), Bo. valaisiana subgroup II (2/270), and Bo. lusitaniae (1/270). In 1.4% of investigated ticks mixed infections with several Borrelia spp. occurred. Babesia spp.-specific DNA was detected in 5.0% of ticks. Babesia microti was slightly more prevalent (28/50) than Babesia divergens (20/50). Moreover, 5.9% (16/270) of Borrelia spp.-infected ticks were coinfected with Babesia spp. Knowledge on the degree of heterogeneity of Borrelia species and OspA types is prerequisite not only for local risk assessment, but also for diagnostic test and vaccine development.