000070749 001__ 70749
000070749 005__ 20200221144305.0
000070749 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1186/s13071-016-1474-9
000070749 0248_ $$2sideral$$a105963
000070749 037__ $$aART-2016-105963
000070749 041__ $$aeng
000070749 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-7483-046X$$aEstrada-Peña, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000070749 245__ $$aPerspectives on modelling the distribution of ticks for large areas: so far so good?
000070749 260__ $$c2016
000070749 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000070749 5203_ $$aBackground: This paper aims to illustrate the steps needed to produce reliable correlative modelling for arthropod vectors, when process-driven models are unavailable. We use ticks as examples because of the (re) emerging interest in the pathogens they transmit. We argue that many scientific publications on the topic focus on: (i) the use of explanatory variables that do not adequately describe tick habitats; (ii) the automatic removal of variables causing internal (statistical) problems in the models without considering their ecological significance; and (iii) spatial pattern matching rather than niche mapping, therefore losing information that could be used in projections.
Methods: We focus on extracting information derived from modelling the environmental niche of ticks, as opposed to pattern matching exercises, as a first step in the process of identifying the ecological determinants of tick distributions. We perform models on widely reported species of ticks in Western Palaearctic to derive a set of covariates, describing the climate niche, reconstructing a Fourier transformation of remotely-sensed information.
Results: We demonstrate the importance of assembling ecological information that drives the distribution of ticks before undertaking any mapping exercise, from which this kind of information is lost. We also show how customised covariates are more relevant to tick ecology than the widely used set of "Bioclimatic Indicators" ("Biovars") derived from interpolated datasets, and provide programming scripts to easily calculate them. We demonstrate that standard pre-tailored vegetation categories also fail to describe tick habitats and are best used to describe absence rather than presence of ticks, but could be used in conjunction with the climate based suitability models.
Conclusions: We stress the better performance of climatic covariates obtained from remotely sensed information as opposed to interpolated explanatory variables derived from ground measurements which are flawed with internal issues affecting modelling performance. Extracting ecological conclusions from modelling projections is necessary to gain information about the variables driving the distribution of arthropod vectors. Mapping exercises should be a secondary aim in the study of the distribution of health threatening arthropods.
000070749 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EUR/OC/EFSA/AHAW-2013-02-FWC1$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/613996/EU/Emerging viral vector borne diseases/VMERGE
000070749 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
000070749 590__ $$a3.08$$b2016
000070749 591__ $$aPARASITOLOGY$$b9 / 36 = 0.25$$c2016$$dQ1$$eT1
000070749 592__ $$a1.534$$b2016
000070749 593__ $$aParasitology$$c2016$$dQ1
000070749 593__ $$aInfectious Diseases$$c2016$$dQ1
000070749 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000070749 700__ $$aAlexander, N.
000070749 700__ $$aWint, G.R.W.
000070749 7102_ $$11009$$2773$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Patología Animal$$cÁrea Sanidad Animal
000070749 773__ $$g9 (2016), 179 [10 pp]$$pParasites & Vectors$$tParasites and Vectors$$x1756-3305
000070749 8564_ $$s1857809$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/70749/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000070749 8564_ $$s110009$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/70749/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000070749 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:70749$$particulos$$pdriver
000070749 951__ $$a2020-02-21-13:34:23
000070749 980__ $$aARTICLE