Table 1 Environmental variables (meteorological, land cover, topography, and bioclimatic variables) used to explain I. ricinus nymph counts per 100 m2 in regression analysis.
Type | Group | Variable | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
Meteorological | Temperature | \({T}_{M}^{0:1}\) | One-month moving average temperature; average temperature from 30 preceding days to the sampling day (°C) |
\({T}_{M}^{3:6}\) | Previous 3-to-6-month moving average temperature; average mean temperature of preceding 3–6 months (°C) | ||
\({T}_{M}^{0:6}\) | Six-month moving average mean temperature; between 6 preceding months to the sampling day (°C) | ||
\({T}_{M}^{0:12}\) | Twelve-month moving average mean temperature; between 12 preceding months to the sampling day (°C) | ||
Relative humidity | \({U}_{N}^{0:1}\) | One-month moving average minimum relative humidity; average value from 30 preceding days to the sampling day (%) | |
\({U}_{N}^{3:6}\) | Previous 3-to-6-month moving minimum relative humidity of preceding 3–6 months (%) | ||
\({U}_{N}^{0:6}\) | Six-month moving average minimum relative humidity; between 6 preceding months to the sampling day (%) | ||
\({U}_{N}^{0:12}\) | 12-month moving average minimum relative humidity; between 12 preceding months to the sampling day (%) | ||
Daytime | \(Daytime\) | Daytime duration (h) | |
Land cover, topography, and bioclimatea | Topography | \({Mean}_{elv}\) | Mean elevation (m) |
\({sd}_{elv}\) | Standard deviation of elevation (m) | ||
\({p}_{flat}\) | Proportion of flat area; slope ≤ 2.5% | ||
\({p}_{north}\) | Proportion of non-flat area facing north; aspect < 45° or ≥ 315° | ||
\({p}_{east}\) | Proportion of non-flat area facing east; 45° ≤ aspect < 135° | ||
\({p}_{west}\) | Proportion of non-flat area facing west; 135° ≤ aspect < 225° | ||
\({p}_{south}\) | Proportion of non-flat area facing south; 225° ≤ aspect < 315° | ||
\(Catchment\) | Catchment area | ||
Bioclimate | \({BIO1}_{temp}\) | Annual mean temperature (°C) | |
\({BIO2}_{diur}\) | Mean diurnal range (°C) | ||
\({BIO5}_{maxTemp}\) | Maximum temperature of the hottest month (°C) | ||
\({BIO12}_{prec}\) | Annual precipitation (mm) | ||
Land cover | \({H}_{CLC1}\) | Shannon’s diversity index for level-1 CLC types | |
\({H}_{CLC2}\) | Shannon’s diversity index for level-2 CLC types | ||
\({H}_{Forest}\) | Shannon’s diversity index for forest types | ||
\({p}_{Forest}\) | Percentage of forest-covering area (%) | ||
\({n}_{Forest}\) | Number of forest patches | ||
\({ED}_{Forest}\) | Forest edge density (m/km2) | ||
Soil | \({pH}_{soil}\) | Soil pH |
