Diversity and spatiotemporal atlas of ticks in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration based on MaxEnt model
Abstract
Background This integrative assessment delineates present and projected hotspots for four dominant tick species in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, providing a spatial basis for targeted surveillance and control of tick-borne diseases.Methods We conducted a comprehensive review of the latest literature to determine the current distribution of ticks in the BTH region. Subsequently, the MaxEnt model was used to analyze the climate and environmental factors that affect the distribution of dominant ticks, and simulated the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of ticks in the BTH region in the future.Results Totally 19 tick species from 6 genera in the BTH region, including four dominant tick species such as Haemaphysalis longicornis, Haemaphysalis concinna, Dermacentor silvarum and Ixodes persulcatus. Hae. longicornis exhibited a widespread distribution, while Hae. concinna, D. silvarum, and I. persulcatus were predominantly found in the northern and northwestern parts of BTH region. The main environmental variables affecting their distributions were temperature (Bio11), elevation and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The model predictions indicated that the suitable habitats of all four dominant species would experience varying degrees of fluctuation under future climate conditions. Specifically, during 2081–2100, the centroid of suitable habitats for Hae. longicornis, D. silvarum, and I. persulcatus is predicted to shift northwestward, while Hae. concinna is expected to shift northeastward.Conclusions In this study, we provided a comprehensive assessment of tick species composition and spatial distribution patterns in the BTH region, which could provide a valuable reference for future research on tick distribution and the surveillance of tick-borne diseases in the region.
Keywords
Citation Information
@article{linglingchen2026,
title={Diversity and spatiotemporal atlas of ticks in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration based on MaxEnt model},
author={Lingling Chen and Wanying Gao and Yang Song and Jiaqi Nie and Zengliang Wang and Henan Cao and Xiao Jiang and Shulei Jia},
journal={Research Square},
year={2026},
doi={https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9251988/v1}
}
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