Nested species distribution models of Chlamydiales in tick host Ixodes ricinus in Switzerland

Data related to the publication "Nested species distribution models of Chlamydiales in tick host Ixodes ricinus in Switzerland". Doi: 10.1101/2020.05.26.118216. Abstract of the paper: The tick <em>Ixodes ricinus</em> is the vector of various pathogens, including <em>Chlamydiales</em> bacteria, potentially causing respiratory infections. In this study, we modelled the spatial distribution of <em>I. ricinus</em> and associated<em> </em><em>Chlamydiales</em> over Switzerland from 2009 to 2019. We used a total of 2293 ticks and 186 <em>Chlamydiales</em> occurrences provided by a Swiss Army field campaign, a collaborative smartphone application and a prospective campaign. For each tick location, we retrieved from Swiss federal datasets the environmental factors reflecting the topography, climate and land cover. We then used the Maxent modelling technique to estimate the suitability for <em>I. ricinus</em> and to subsequently build the nested niche of <em>Chlamydiales</em> bacteria. Results indicate that <em>I. ricinus</em> high habitat suitability is determined by higher temperature and vegetation index (NDVI) values, lower temperature during driest months and a higher percentage of artificial and forests areas. The performance of the model was increased when extracting the environmental variables for a 100 m-radius buffer around the sampling points and when considering the climatic conditions of the two years previous sampling date. For <em>Chlamydiales</em> bacteria, the suitability was favoured by lower percentage of artificial surfaces, driest conditions, high precipitation during coldest months and short distances to wetlands. From 2009 to 2018, we observed an extension of tick and <em>Chlamydiales</em> suitable areas, associated with a shift towards higher altitude. The importance to consider spatio-temporal variations of the environmental conditions for obtaining better prediction was also demonstrated.