Field validation of multiple species distribution models shows variation in performance for predicting Aedes albopictus distributions at the invasion edge.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Climate and land use changes have resulted in range expansion of many species. In this shifting disease landscape, it is important to leverage tools that can predict the distributions of invading vectors to target surveillance and control efforts and identify at-risk populations. Species distribution models (SDMs) are used to predict ranges of invasive species; however, invasive species often violate assumptions of equilibrium and niche conservatism. Moreover, these studies are rarely validated using independent data.

Methods

We use long-term surveillance data for Aedes albopictus, a highly invasive mosquito capable of transmitting several arboviruses, at its range edge to evaluate a variety of SDMs (MaxEnt, GAM, Random Forest, Boosted Regression Tree) in predicti

SUBMITTER: Shattuck AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12648814 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature