title: Species distribution models and ecological suitability analysis for potential tick vectors of lyme disease in Mexico.
abstract: Species distribution models were constructed for ten Ixodes species and Amblyomma cajennense for a region including Mexico and Texas. The model was based on a maximum entropy algorithm that used environmental layers to predict the relative probability of presence for each taxon. For Mexico, species geographic ranges were predicted by restricting the models to cells which have a higher probability than the lowest probability of the cells in which a presence record was located. There was spatial nonconcordance between the distributions of Amblyomma cajennense and the Ixodes group with the former restricted to lowlands and mainly the eastern coast of Mexico and the latter to montane regions with lower temperature. The risk of Lyme disease is, therefore, mainly present in the highlands where some Ixodes species are known vectors; if Amblyomma cajennense turns out to be a competent vector, the area of risk also extends to the lowlands and the east coast.
authors.affiliation: Section of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Illoldi-Rangel
authors.forename: Chissa-Louise
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Rivaldi
authors.forename: Blake
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sissel
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trout Fryxell
authors.forename: Guadalupe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gordillo-Pérez
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Moreno
authors.forename: Phillip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Griselda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Montiel-Parra
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Cordero
authors.forename: Sahotra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarkar