Looking for ticks from Space: using remotely sensed spectral diversity to assess Amblyomma and Hyalomma tick abundance
(2019) 24th National Symposium for Applied Biological Sciences — Location: Ghent (4.February.2019)
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- Authors
Da Re, Daniele 
- et. al.
- Abstract
- (en) Tick distribution and populations dynamics models commonly use Satellite Remote Sensing products (SRS) as proxy of environmental covariates. However, epidemiological studies do not exploit the whole potential of SRS products, often considering only a) the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum useful for vegetation indexes and b) the assemblage of habitats’ resources experienced by vectors and hosts at single-pixel values rather than spanning across pixels. Spectral diversity computed across neighboring pixels is an indicator of habitat heterogeneity which, relying on the Resource Based Habitat Concept, could be linked to tick resources availability. In fact, several studies have shown how tick abundance is higher in heterogeneous areas, presumably reflecting a greater abundance of hosts, feeding and reproduction sites. In this study, we assessed the capacity of SRS spectral-based landscape diversity indexes to inform on the habitat of two tick genera, Amblyomma and Hyalomma, in Benin (Western Africa). Specifically, we tested for i) association between spectral diversity indices and heterogeneous landscapes and, ii) whether their inclusion brings added ecological meaning for predicting tick abundance. Higher spectral diversity was correlated to mosaicked landscapes and positively related to Hyalomma abundances only. Though taxa dependent, our approach showed a goodness of fit between predicted and observed value between 13-20% using one-variable models, which is a promising outcome considering the sampling and scale limitations. Spectral diversity indexes coupled to the classical SRS methods revealed to be a complementary approach bringing interesting ecological considerations into disease biogeography field.
- Affiliations
Citations
Da Re, D., & et al. (2019). Looking for ticks from Space: using remotely sensed spectral diversity to assess Amblyomma and Hyalomma tick abundance. Communications in Agricultural and Applied Biological Sciences, 1(84), 100. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/124192 (Original work published 2019)