Climate change influences on the geographic distributional potential of the spotted fever vectors Amblyomma maculatum and Dermacentor andersoni

PeerJ

article

Abdelghafar Alkishe¹  A. Townsend Peterson¹ 

[1] Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas;Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Univeristy of Tripoli

关键词: Gulf Coast tick;    Rocky Mountain wood tick;    Ecological niche modeling;    Climate change;    GCMs;    RCPs;    North America;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.13279

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick), and Dermacentor andersoni (Rocky Mountain wood tick) are two North American ticks that transmit spotted fevers associated Rickettsia. Amblyomma maculatum transmits Rickettsia parkeri and Francisella tularensis, while D. andersoni transmits R. rickettsii, Anaplasma marginale, Coltivirus (Colorado tick fever virus), and F. tularensis. Increases in temperature causes mild winters and more extreme dry periods during summers, which will affect tick populations in unknown ways. Here, we used ecological niche modeling (ENM) to assess the potential geographic distributions of these two medically important vector species in North America under current condition and then transfer those models to the future under different future climate scenarios with special interest in highlighting new potential expansion areas. Current model predictions for A. maculatum showed suitable areas across the southern and Midwest United States, and east coast, western and southern Mexico. For D. andersoni, our models showed broad suitable areas across northwestern United States. New potential for range expansions was anticipated for both tick species northward in response to climate change, extending across the Midwest and New England for A. maculatum, and still farther north into Canada for D. andersoni.

【 授权许可】

CC BY