Klarenberg Geraldine, Wisely Samantha M
Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
Insects. 2019 Sep 27;10(10):321. doi: 10.3390/insects10100321.
In 2013, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) started collecting 30-year multi-faceted ecological data at various spatial and temporal scales across the US including ticks. Understanding the abundance and dynamics of disease vectors under changing environmental conditions in the long-term is important to societies, but sustained long-term collection efforts are sparse. Using hard-bodied tick data collected by NEON, the vegetation and atmospheric data and a statistical state-space model, which included a detection probability component, this study estimated the abundance of tick nymphs and adult ticks across a Florida NEON location. It took into account the spatial and temporal variation, and factors affecting detection. Its purpose was to test the applicability of data collected thus far and evaluate tick abundance. The study found an increase in tick abundance at this Florida location, and was able to explain spatial and temporal variability in abundance and detection. This approach shows the potential of NEON data. The NEON data collection is unique in scale, and promises to be of great value to understand tick and disease dynamics across the US. From a public health perspective, the detection probability of vectors can be interpreted as the probability of encountering that vector, making these types of analyses useful for estimating disease risk.
2013年，国家生态观测网络（NEON）开始在美国各地不同的空间和时间尺度上收集为期30年的多方面生态数据，其中包括蜱虫数据。从长期来看，了解不断变化的环境条件下病媒的数量及动态变化对社会很重要，但持续的长期数据收集工作却很少。本研究利用NEON收集的硬蜱数据、植被和大气数据以及一个包含检测概率成分的统计状态空间模型，估算了佛罗里达州一个NEON站点的蜱若虫和成年蜱的数量。该研究考虑了空间和时间变化以及影响检测的因素。其目的是检验迄今收集到的数据的适用性，并评估蜱虫数量。研究发现该佛罗里达站点的蜱虫数量有所增加，并且能够解释数量及检测方面的空间和时间变异性。这种方法显示了NEON数据的潜力。NEON的数据收集在规模上独一无二，有望在了解美国各地蜱虫及疾病动态方面具有巨大价值。从公共卫生角度来看，病媒的检测概率可解释为遇到该种病媒的概率，使得这类分析对于估计疾病风险很有用。
