Identification of habitat suitability for the dominant zoonotic tick species on Chongming Island, China.

ticks are pathogenic vectors that threaten human and animal health and were identified in Chongming, the third largest island in China. To understand the distribution of these ticks and determine their potential invasion risk, this study aimed to identify the habitat suitability of the dominant tick based on natural environmental factors. Geographic information system (GIS) images were combined with sample points from tick investigations to map the spatial distribution of . . Data on 19 bioclimatic variables, environmental variables, and satellite-based landscapes of Chongming Island were retrieved to create a landcover map related to natural environmental determinants of . These data included 38 sites associated with the vectors to construct species distribution models with MaxEnt, a model based on the maximum entropy principle, and to predict habitat suitability for on Chongming Island in 2050 and 2070 under different climate scenarios. The model performed well in predicting the . distribution, with a training area under the curve of 0.84 and a test area under the curve of 0.73. A habitat suitability map of the whole study area was created for . The resulting map and natural environment analysis highlighted the importance of the normalized difference vegetation index and precipitation in the driest month for the bioecology of , with 141.61 km (11.77%), 282.94 km (23.35%), and 405.30 km (33.69%) of highly, moderately, and poorly suitable habitats, respectively. The distribution decreased by 135.55 km and 138.82 km in 2050 and 2070, respectively, under the shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) 1.2.6 climate change scenario. However, under SSP 5.8.5, the total area will decrease by 128.5 km in 2050 and increase by 151.64 km in 2070. From a One Health perspective, this study provides good knowledge that will guide tick control efforts to prevent the spread of ticks or transmission risk of -borne infections at the human-animal-environment interface on the island.