Mechanistic movement models to predict geographic range expansions of ticks and tick-borne pathogens: Case studies with Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum in eastern North America

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creativework.keywords - en
Amblyomma americanum
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto
Ixodes scapularis
Climate warming
Reaction-advection-diffusion model
Spatial expansion
dc.contributor.author
Tardy, Olivia
Sohanna Acheson, Emily
Bouchard, Catherine
Chamberland, Éric
Fortin, André
Ogden, Nicholas H.
Leighton, Patrick A.
dc.date.accessioned
2023-11-09T14:27:11Z
dc.date.available
2023-11-09T14:27:11Z
dc.date.issued
2023-07
dc.description.abstract - en
The geographic range of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is expanding northward from the United States into southern Canada, and studies suggest that the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, will follow suit. These tick species are vectors for many zoonotic pathogens, and their northward range expansion presents a serious threat to public health. Climate change (particularly increasing temperature) has been identified as an important driver permitting northward range expansion of blacklegged ticks, but the impacts of host movement, which is essential to tick dispersal into new climatically suitable regions, have received limited investigation. Here, a mechanistic movement model was applied to landscapes of eastern North America to explore 1) relationships between multiple ecological drivers and the speed of the northward invasion of blacklegged ticks infected with the causative agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, and 2) its capacity to simulate the northward range expansion of infected blacklegged ticks and uninfected lone star ticks under theoretical scenarios of increasing temperature. Our results suggest that the attraction of migratory birds (long-distance tick dispersal hosts) to resource-rich areas during their spring migration and the mate-finding Allee effect in tick population dynamics are key drivers for the spread of infected blacklegged ticks. The modeled increases in temperature extended the climatically suitable areas of Canada for infected blacklegged ticks and uninfected lone star ticks towards higher latitudes by up to 31% and 1%, respectively, and with an average predicted speed of the range expansion reaching 61 km/year and 23 km/year, respectively. Differences in the projected spatial distribution patterns of these tick species were due to differences in climate envelopes of tick populations, as well as the availability and attractiveness of suitable habitats for migratory birds. Our results indicate that the northward invasion process of lone star ticks is primarily driven by local dispersal of resident terrestrial hosts, whereas that of blacklegged ticks is governed by long-distance migratory bird dispersal. The results also suggest that mechanistic movement models provide a powerful approach for predicting tick-borne disease risk patterns under complex scenarios of climate, socioeconomic and land use/land cover changes.
dc.identifier.citation
Tardy O, Acheson ES, Bouchard C, Chamberland É, Fortin A, Ogden NH, Leighton PA. Mechanistic movement models to predict geographic range expansions of ticks and tick-borne pathogens: Case studies with Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum in eastern North America. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2023 Jul;14(4):102161. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102161. Epub 2023 Mar 28. PMID: 36996508.
dc.identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2023.102161
dc.identifier.issn
1877-9603
dc.identifier.pubmedID
36996508
dc.identifier.uri
https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1281
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher
Elsevier
dc.rights - en
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights - fr
Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights.uri - en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en
Health
dc.subject - fr
Santé
dc.subject.en - en
Health
dc.subject.fr - fr
Santé
dc.title - en
Mechanistic movement models to predict geographic range expansions of ticks and tick-borne pathogens: Case studies with Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum in eastern North America
dc.type - en
Article
dc.type - fr
Article
local.article.journalissue
4
local.article.journaltitle
Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases
local.article.journalvolume
14
local.peerreview - en
Yes
local.peerreview - fr
Oui
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