Distribution of <i>Dermacentor andersoni</i> Stiles and <i>Dermacentor variabilis</i> (Say) (Acari: Ixodidae) in western Canada based on active surveillance
Bibliographic record
Abstract
A total of 454 unique sites in western Canada were drag sampled for host-seeking Dermacentor species. Dermacentor andersoni Stiles was detected in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, while D. variabilis (Say) was detected in all four provinces. Dermacentor similis (Lado et al.) was collected from two sites in British Columbia. Dermacentor andersoni was detected as far east as -103.53° and as far north as 52.38° at elevations from 500 m to 1,231 m. Dermacentor variabilis was detected as far west as -110.9° and as far north as 54.78° at elevations from 200 to 1,200 m. Logistic regression indicated that prevalence of D. andersoni decreased with latitude, increased in the west, and increased with elevation to 900 m, then, declined. Prevalence of D. variabilis decreased with latitude, increased eastwards, and declined as elevation increased. Relationships with environmental variables were developed and indicated that mean winter temperature (Jan.-Mar.), summer temperature (Jul.-Sept.) and total winter precipitation affected both species. Dermacentor andersoni occurred at sites with mean winter temperatures between -10.4 °C and 1.4 °C, while most D. variabilis occurred at sites with winter temperatures between -15.0 °C and -7.9 °C. Prevalence of both species increased as summer and winter temperatures increased. Prevalence of D. andersoni also declined as total summer precipitation increased, consistent with it being a xerophilic species. Prevalence was also influenced by ecoregion and soil variables. Models had good fit, low bias, and good discrimination. Results will be useful for forecasting distribution and presence of these tick species throughout western Canada.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".