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. 2020 Nov 9;17(21):8285.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17218285.

Comparison of Habitat Suitability Models for Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann in North America to Determine Its Potential Geographic Range

Jamyang Namgyal  1 , Isabelle Couloigner  1   2 , Tim J Lysyk  1 , Shaun J Dergousoff  3 , Susan C Cork  1
Affiliations

Comparison of Habitat Suitability Models for Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann in North America to Determine Its Potential Geographic Range

Jamyang Namgyal et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann, 1901 is a vector of many pathogens of public and veterinary health importance in its native range in East Asia and introduced range in Oceania. In North America, this tick was first detected in New Jersey in 2017. Currently, this tick has been reported from 15 states of the United States. In this study, we modeled the habitat suitability of H. longicornis using the MaxEnt modeling approach. We separated occurrence records from the published literature from four different geographical regions in the world and developed MaxEnt models using relevant environmental variables to describe the potential habitat suitability of this tick in North America. The predictive accuracy of the models was assessed using the U.S. county locations where this tick species has been reported. Our best model predicted that the most suitable North American areas for geographic expansion of H. longicornis are from Arkansas-South Carolina to the south of Quebec-Nova Scotia in the east, and from California to the coast of British Columbia in the west. Enhanced surveillance and further investigation are required to gain a better understanding of the role that this tick might play in the transmission of diseases to humans and animals in North America.

Keywords: Asian longhorned tick; Haemaphysalis longicornis; MaxEnt; North America.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Boxplots of different temperature predictors, (a) WorldClim and (b) ENVIREM, showing the distribution of their values at the H. longicornis presence locations according to the geographic region.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Habitat suitability of H. longicornis under current climatic and environmental conditions in the eastern United States, with outlines of U.S. counties with reported H. longicornis occurrences [19]. The habitat suitability of all models is represented by 5 classes (0–0.2, very low; 0.2–0.4, low; 0.4–0.6, moderate; 0.6–0.8, high; 0.8–1.0, very high) following the classification of Zuliani et al. [44]. Models with bio 1, bio 5, bio 12, and (Global Ecological Zone) GEZ using H. longicornis occurrence locations from (a) the entire range, (b) the native range, (c) Oceania, (d) parthenogenetic range; and (e) model with bio 1, GEZ, continentality and f. model with bio 10, bio 11, and GEZ using H. longicornis occurrence locations from the native range.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Habitat suitability of H. longicornis under current climatic and environmental conditions for North America for the two best models ((a) model 2—bio 1, bio 5, bio 12, and (Global Ecological Zone) GEZ using H. longicornis occurrence locations from the native range, Asia; (b) model 6—bio 10, bio 11, and GEZ using H. longicornis occurrence locations from the native range, Asia).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of the habitat suitability of H. longicornis in North America between the 2 best models (model 2 (bio 1, bio 5, bio 12, and GEZ) and model 6 (bio 10, bio 11, and GEZ) for the high suitability probabilities (≥ 0.6).
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