Niche and Range Shifts of Aedes aegypti and Ae. albopictus Suggest That the Latecomer Shows a Greater Invasiveness

Abstract

The yellow fever (Aedes aegypti) and Asian tiger (Ae. albopictus) mosquitos are major vectors of global mosquito-borne pathogens. However, their niche and range shifts, the underlying mechanisms, and related relative invasion rates remain scarcely known. We examined the niche and range shifts between the native and invasive Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus populations through dynamic niche and range models and the largest occurrence record datasets to date. We detected substantial niche and range expansions in both species, probably because the introduced populations have more opportunities to acclimate to diverse environmental conditions than their native counterparts. Mitigating climate change could effectively control their future invasions, given that future climate changes could promote their invasiveness. Additionally, compared to the introduced Ae. aegypti, the more recent invader Ae. albopictus had greater niche and range expansion over its shorter invasion history. In terms of the range shifts, Ae. albopictus had an invasion rate approximately 13.3 times faster than that of Ae. aegypti, making it a more invasive vector of global mosquito-borne pathogens. Therefore, considering its higher invasion rate, much more attention should be paid to Ae. albopictus in devising our strategies against prevailing global mosquito-borne pathogens than Ae. aegypti. Since small niche shifts could result in their large range shifts, niche shifts might be a more important indicator for biological invasion assessments.

Aedes albopictus arrives in Lisbon: an emerging public health threat

“…The continuous invasion of Ae. albopictus represents an increasing threat of yellow fever, dengue, Zika, and chikungunya, to immunologically naïve populations, with the risk of expansion at a global scale ( 14 ). The changing distribution of this vector highlights the need for heightened awareness and action in both the Global North and the Global South, which is crucial for a unified global response against infectious diseases.…”

Invasive Pest and Invasive Host: Where Might Spotted-Wing Drosophila (Drosophila suzukii) and American Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) Cross Paths in Europe?

“…We eliminated duplicated occurrences (i.e., occurrences with the same geographical coordinates) and those with geographic coordinate uncertainty > 5 km. To minimize the effect of sample bias on our models, we used the SDM toolbox, a package for species distribution modeling, to spatially thin the occurrences with a radius of 5 km [50]. Next, we developed an occurrence dataset that included 228 spotted-wing drosophila records and 3832 American black cherry records (Figure 1, Table S1).…”

“…To develop SDMs, 70% of the records were randomly selected; the remaining 30% were used to evaluate the reliability of the SDMs [51,56]. We removed calibrated SDMs with an AUC less than 0.8 and true skill statistic (TSS) less than 0.6; in our ensembled SDMs, the prediction of each model was assigned a weight based on its TSS [50]. A similar technique was used to estimate the potential range of spotted-wing drosophila.…”

“…We used the range ratio index (RRI) to characterize shifts in the range sizes of species under future scenarios [50], which was calibrated as follows:…”

Host diversity of Aedes albopictus in relation to invasion history: a meta-analysis of blood feeding studies

“…During the last decades, it has adapted well to suburban and urban environments with larvae developing in arti cial containers, which, along with the intensi cation of human trade and tourism, enhanced its spread all over the world. The differences in the breeding habits between native and invasive distribution ranges may mediate dissimilarities in the ecological niches that populations occupy in these areas [11,12]. This may also have consequences for the diet's taxonomical spectrum, and the role played in pathogen transmission.…”