• Login
    View Item 
    •   Carroll Scholars Home
    • Life and Environmental Sciences
    • Life and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Theses
    • View Item
    •   Carroll Scholars Home
    • Life and Environmental Sciences
    • Life and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Theses
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Risk mapping of bluetongue virus in Montana using habitat suitability for Culicoides vectors

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    2010_EdminsterP_THS_000533.pdf (3.271Mb)
    Author
    Edminster, Pete
    Advisor
    Grant Hokit; Gerald Shields; Jack Oberweiser
    Date of Issue
    2010-04-01
    Subject Keywords
    biting midge, Culicoides sonorensis, bluetongue disease
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    https://scholars.carroll.edu/handle/20.500.12647/2858
    Title
    Risk mapping of bluetongue virus in Montana using habitat suitability for Culicoides vectors
    Type
    thesis
    Abstract
    Bluetongue disease, first reported in the United States in 1952, affects cattle, sheep, and other wild and domesticated ruminants. Globally, the biting midge (order Diptera, family Ceratopogonidae, genus Culicoides) has been identified as the primary vector for the spread of bluetongue. Preliminary research has demonstrated that outbreaks of arboviruses can be accurately predicted using habitat characteristics essential to vector survival, as global disease occurrence is closely correlated to distribution of the disease vector. The goal of my study was to derive an accurate map ofstatewide habitat suitability for C. sonorensis based on individual environmental factors, which could then be used to infer bluetongue risk. I used the program MaxEnt to build a statewide habitat suitability model for the biting midge, Culicoides sonorensis using environmental data layers and presence-only data for known locations throughout Montana. Modeling with MaxEnt resulted in a statewide map of C. sonorensis habitat with an AUC=0.928, demonstrating a strong correlation between the model and the presence data. Environmental variables incorporated into the final model included distance to surface water, land cover, slope, and elevation. The MaxEnt output of midge habitat suitability shows highly suitable habitat in eastern Montana, which becomes drastically less hospitable in the western part of the state, presumably due to higher elevation, which is known to limit midge distributions. Although this project produced a highly significant model, the low amount of presence data for C. sonorensis resulted in a limited number of training points for modeling analysis, and should be expanded in order to further legitimize the results and allow for use oftest data.
    Degree Awarded
    Bachelor's
    Semester
    Spring
    Department
    Life & Environmental Sciences
    Collections
    • Life and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Theses

    Browse

    All of Carroll ScholarsCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2023  DuraSpace
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV