Forest associated habitat variables influence human-tick encounters in the southeastern United States

Due to the increased frequency of human-tick encounters and expanding ranges of ticks in the United States, there is a critical need to identify environmental conditions associated with tick populations and their likelihood to contact human hosts. In a passive tick surveillance partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, we identified environmental variables associated with tick encounters by forestry personnel. Ticks were identified to species and life stage and site-specific variables were associated with each tick using FIA forest inventory datasets and generalized linear and zero-inflated models. Of the 55 FIA variables available, we identified biotic and abiotic environmental variables associated with Amblyomma americanum (carbon in litter material and standing dead tree aboveground dry biomass), Dermacentor variabilis (live sapling belowground dry biomass, carbon in litter material, forest stand age, and elevation), and..., Data for this study were obtained through a partnership with the USDA-FIA. Ticks were collected voluntarily according to methods outlined in Trout Fryxell and Vogt 2019 by FIA foresters conducting standard inventory operations over a period of five years (2017–2021) in the southeastern U.S.  Vegetation data were collected by USDA-FIA crews on permanent ground sampling plots located across the study area at a sampling intensity of 1 plot per 2,428 ha. Crews indicated where ticks were encountered and those plots were cross-referenced with the USDA FIA database., , # Forest associated habitat variables influence human-tick encounters in the southeastern United States

Data for this study were obtained through a partnership with the USDA-FIA. Ticks were collected voluntarily according to methods outlined in Trout Fryxell and Vogt 2019 by FIA foresters conducting standard inventory operations over a period of five years (2017-2021) in the southeastern U.S. Vegetation data were collected by USDA-FIA crews on permanent ground sampling plots located across the study area at a sampling intensity of 1 plot per 2,428 ha. Crews indicated where ticks were encountered and those plots were cross-referenced with the USDA FIA database. Analyses were conducted to correlate tick abundance with different environmental variables.

Missing data are coded with a decimal (.)
The following is a table with the code followed by a definition.

| Variable | Definition ...