Modeling the Distribution of Medically Important Tick Species in Florida

The lone star ( ), black-legged ( ) and American dog ticks ( ) are species of great public health importance as they are competent vectors of several notable pathogens. While the regional distributions of these species are well characterized, more localized distribution estimates are sparse. We used...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Insects (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-06, Vol.10 (7), p.190
Main Authors: Kessler, William H, Ganser, Claudia, Glass, Gregory E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
American dog
Annual precipitation
Arachnids
Black-legged
Classification
Datasets
distribution
ensemble
Generalized linear models
Geographical distribution
geography
Habitats
Ixodid ticks
Lone star
Lyme disease
Machine learning
Mars
Methods
modeling
Modelling
niche
Normalized difference vegetative index
Pathogens
Probability distribution
Public health
Species
Ticks
Variables
Vectors
Vectors (Biology)
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Summary:The lone star ( ), black-legged ( ) and American dog ticks ( ) are species of great public health importance as they are competent vectors of several notable pathogens. While the regional distributions of these species are well characterized, more localized distribution estimates are sparse. We used records of field collected ticks and an ensemble modeling approach to predict habitat suitability for each of these species in Florida. Environmental variables capturing climatic extremes were common contributors to habitat suitability. Most frequently, annual precipitation (Bio12), mean temperature of the driest quarter (Bio9), minimum temperature of the coldest month (Bio6), and mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were included in the final models for each species. Agreement between the modeling algorithms used in this study was high and indicated the distribution of suitable habitat for all three species was reduced at lower latitudes. These findings are important for raising awareness of the potential for tick-borne pathogens in Florida.
ISSN:2075-4450
2075-4450
DOI:10.3390/insects10070190