title: The first German map of georeferenced ixodid tick locations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Georeferenced locations of ixodid ticks are required to depict the observed distribution of species. Further, they are used as input data for species distribution models also known as niche models. The latter were applied to describe current and future (projected) tick distributions. Beside model assumptions and selected climate parameters, the number of georeferenced tick locations available as a digital dataset is of fundamental importance for the reliability of such models. For Germany, however, no comprehensive dataset of ixodid tick species exists. The goal of this study was to put together all the available information on ixodid tick locations in Germany to produce such a digital dataset and to visualize it in a map.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2,044 georeferenced locations of ixodid ticks in Germany were compiled from two existing datasets (altogether 993 locations) and an extensive literature study (1,051 locations). The resulting digital dataset comprises the following tick species: Ixodes ricinus (1,855 locations), Ixodes apronophorus (1), Ixodes frontalis (1), Ixodes hexagonus (1), Ixodes trianguliceps (4), Dermacentor marginatus (77), Dermacentor reticulatus (96), Haemaphysalis concinna (8) and Hyalomma marginatum (1). The data were used to draw a tick map for Germany, showing I. ricinus occurring in the whole federal territory, while D. marginatus has been restricted to the climatically favoured region of the Rhine valley. Clustered locations of D. reticulatus were also documented in the Rhine valley as well as in Berlin and its vicinity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The introduced map depicts for the first time the available geographical coordinates of ixodid tick locations in Germany. The digital dataset used to draw the map is provided to the scientific community as a basis for further investigations such as species distribution modelling.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210, Vienna, Austria. franz.rubel@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rubel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210, Vienna, Austria. katharina.brugger@vetmeduni.ac.at.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brugger
authors.affiliation: Governmental Institute of Public Health of Lower Saxony, Hannover, Germany. masyar.monazahian@nlga.niedersachsen.de.
authors.forename: Masyar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monazahian
authors.affiliation: Section IV 1.4 - Public Health Pest and their Control, Federal Environment Agency, Berlin, Germany. birgit.habedank@uba.de.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Habedank
authors.affiliation: tick-radar GmbH, Berlin, Germany. dautel@tick-radar.de.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dautel
authors.affiliation: tick-radar GmbH, Berlin, Germany. leverenz@tick-radar.de.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leverenz
authors.affiliation: tick-radar GmbH, Berlin, Germany. kahl@tick-radar.de.
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kahl
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D005858:Germany; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity