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Environmental factors associated with the distribution and range limits of the malaria vector *Anopheles farauti* in Australia
Sweeney, A. W. Beebe, N. W. Cooper, R. D. Bauer, John T. Peterson, A. Townsend
Sweeney, A. W.
Beebe, N. W.
Cooper, R. D.
Bauer, John T.
Peterson, A. Townsend
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Abstract
Ecological factors associated with the narrow coastal distribution of Anopheles farauti
Laveran s.s. were investigated using decision tree software and a recently developed software tool that
permits analysis of environmental gradients across distributional boundaries. SigniÞcant variables
identiÞed by these procedures were then used to develop ecological niche models that permitted
detailedÑand improvedÑpredictions of the speciesÕ overall distribution. These methods identiÞed
seven climatic factors (four of temperature factors and three atmospheric moisture factors) from
among 40 environmental variables related to the range of this species. In addition, the gradient-analysis
tool identiÞed elevation as being particularly important. The distributional hypothesis predicted using
ecological niche modeling of these factors included all of the record sites from which An. farauti s.s.
was collected in northern Australia and successfully reconstructed its narrow limitation to coastal
areas. Omission of elevation from analyses resulted in unrealistic predictions of potential distributional
areas 100 km inland, where the species has not been found.
Description
Date
2006-09
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Entomological Society of America
Research Projects
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Keywords
Ecological niche modeling, Mosquitoes, Malaria
Citation
Sweeney, A. W., N. W. Beebe, R. D. Cooper, J. T. Bauer, and A. T. Peterson. 2006. Environmental factors associated with the distribution and range limits of the malaria vector Anopheles farauti sensu stricto in Australia. Journal of Medical Entomology 43:1068-1075. http://dx.doi.org/10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[1068:EFAWDA]2.0.CO;2