RT Journal Article
T1 Influence of environmental temperature and humidityon questing ticks in central Spain
A1 Requena García, F.
A1 Cabrero Sañudo, Francisco José
A1 Olmeda García, Ángeles Sonia
A1 González, Julia
A1 Valcárcel, F.
AB Ticks are important ectoparasites and vectors of the pathogens that cause disease in humans and animals. At a natural reserve in Ciudad Real (Spain), an uncontrollable infestation of wild animals with Hyalomma lusitanicum (Koch) has been reported by some game reserve owners. Many questions about distribution, abundance, and phenology of this tick in this area remain unanswered. The aim of this study was to determine if temperature and relative humidity affect the questing tick’s activity in four species of ticks in a mesoMediterranean area, especially that of H. lusitanicum. Data for tick populations in six selected sampling sites every month, between January 2007 and December 2013 were used. Temperature and humidity values (ground and environmental) were recorded. The sampling effort, the similarity between sites, and the phenology of the species were analyzed. Effects of environmental variables on tick’s activity were assessed by general linear models (GLM) whereas the comparative importance of variables was measured by hierarchical variance partitioning. Hyalomma lusitanicum represented 96.3% of the four species of ticks collected. Spring and summer months presented a higher activity of ticks, than autumn and winter months. In general, humidity variables were negatively related to the activity of ticks, whereas temperature variables were positively related. Our results suggest that the highest activity in the area is produced by biological characteristics of H. lusitanicum; being temperature and humidity the most important environmental factors influencing the abundance of this species in the region.
PB springer
SN 0168-8162, ESSN: 1572-9702
YR 2017
FD 2017
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/17967
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/17967
LA eng
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 9 abr 2025