Effect of Climate and Land Use on the Spatio-Temporal Variability of Tick-Borne Bacteria in Europe

Roberto Rosà, Veronica Andreo, Valentina Tagliapietra, Ivana Baráková, Daniele Arnoldi, Heidi Christine Hauffe, Mattia Manica, Fausta Rosso, Lucia Blaňarová, Martin Bona, Marketa Derdáková, Zuzana Hamšíková, Maria Kazimírová, Jasna Kraljik, Elena Kocianová, Lenka Mahríková, Lenka Minichová, Ladislav Mošanský, Mirko Slovák, Michal Stanko, Eva Špitalská, Els Ducheyne, Markus Neteler, Zdenek Hubálek, Ivo Rudolf, Kristyna Venclikova, Cornelia Silaghi, Evelyn Overzier, Robert Farkas, Gábor Földvári, Sándor Hornok, Nóra Takács and Annapaola Rizzoli
Additional contact information
Roberto Rosà: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Veronica Andreo: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Valentina Tagliapietra: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Ivana Baráková: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Daniele Arnoldi: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Heidi Christine Hauffe: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Mattia Manica: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Fausta Rosso: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy
Lucia Blaňarová: Parasitological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001 Košice, Slovakia
Martin Bona: Department of Anatomy, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, 04001 Košice, Slovakia
Marketa Derdáková: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Zuzana Hamšíková: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Maria Kazimírová: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Jasna Kraljik: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Elena Kocianová: Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84505 Bratislava, Slovakia
Lenka Mahríková: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Lenka Minichová: Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84505 Bratislava, Slovakia
Ladislav Mošanský: Parasitological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001 Košice, Slovakia
Mirko Slovák: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84506 Bratislava, Slovakia
Michal Stanko: Parasitological Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 04001 Košice, Slovakia
Eva Špitalská: Institute of Virology, Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84505 Bratislava, Slovakia
Els Ducheyne: Avia-GIS, Risschotlei 33, 2980 Zoersel, Belgium
Markus Neteler: Mundialis GmbH & Co. KG, 53111 Bonn, Germany
Zdenek Hubálek: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 60365 Brno, Czech Republic
Ivo Rudolf: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 60365 Brno, Czech Republic
Kristyna Venclikova: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 60365 Brno, Czech Republic
Cornelia Silaghi: Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80802 Munich, Germany
Evelyn Overzier: Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80802 Munich, Germany
Robert Farkas: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1078 Budapest, Hungary
Gábor Földvári: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1078 Budapest, Hungary
Sándor Hornok: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1078 Budapest, Hungary
Nóra Takács: Department of Parasitology and Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine, 1078 Budapest, Hungary
Annapaola Rizzoli: Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: The incidence of tick-borne diseases caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. has been rising in Europe in recent decades. Early pre-assessment of acarological hazard still represents a complex challenge. The aim of this study was to model Ixodes ricinus questing nymph density and its infection rate with B. burgdorferi s.l., A. phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. in five European countries (Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) in various land cover types differing in use and anthropisation (agricultural, urban and natural) with climatic and environmental factors (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Land Surface Temperature (LST) and precipitation). We show that the relative abundance of questing nymphs was significantly associated with climatic conditions, such as higher values of NDVI recorded in the sampling period, while no differences were observed among land use categories. However, the density of infected nymphs (DIN) also depended on the pathogen considered and land use. These results contribute to a better understanding of the variation in acarological hazard for Ixodes ricinus transmitted pathogens in Central Europe and provide the basis for more focused ecological studies aimed at assessing the effect of land use in different sites on tick–host pathogens interaction.

Keywords: land use; acarological hazard; Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Rickettsia spp.; normalized difference vegetation index; density of infected nymphs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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