title: Ecological niche and geographic distribution of the Chagas disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata (Reduviidae: Triatominae): Evidence for niche differentiation among cryptic species.
abstract: The principal vector of Chagas disease in Central America, Triatoma dimidiata, shows considerable diversity of habitat, phenotype, and genotype across its geographic range (central Mexico to southern Ecuador), suggesting that it constitutes a complex of cryptic species. However, no consistent picture of the magnitude of ecological differentiation among populations of this complex has yet been developed. To assess ecological variation across the complex, we broadened the geographic coverage of phylogeographic data and analyses for the complex into Colombia and Mexico, with additional nuclear (ITS-2) and mitochondrial (ND4) DNA sequences. This information allowed us to describe distributions of previously documented clades in greater detail: Group I, from central Guatemala south to Ecuador; Group II, across Mexico south through the Yucatán Peninsula to Belize and northern Guatemala; and Group III, in northern Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula. Using ecological niche modeling, we assessed ecological niche differentiation among the groups using four hypotheses of accessible areas (M) across the distribution of the complex. Results indicated clear niche divergence of Group I from Group II: the speciation process thus appears to have involved genetic and ecological changes, suggesting divergence in populations in response to environmental conditions.
authors: Grupo Biología y Control de Enfermedades Infecciosas - BCEI, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellin, Colombia. Electronic address: amgomezpa@gmail.com.
authors: Andrés
authors: A
authors: Gómez-Palacio
authors: Grupo Biología y Control de Enfermedades Infecciosas - BCEI, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellin, Colombia.
authors: Sair
authors: S
authors: Arboleda
authors: Laboratorio de Parasitología, Instituto Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico.
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Dumonteil
authors: Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Townsend Peterson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002489:Central America / Q000453:epidemiology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission*; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004463:Ecology; D004777:Environment; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D019371:Topography, Medical; D014224:Triatoma / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D021901:DNA, Intergenic
keywords: Chagas disease; Divergence; Ecological niche; Geographic distribution; Model; Triatoma; Triatoma dimidiata complex; Triatominae