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Ecological-niche modeling of the gall midge Psectrosema tamaricum and its host plant Tamarix nilotica in Egypt

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Abstract

The gall-midge Psectrosema tamaricum (Kieffer 1912) (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) forms small ovoid or fusiform swelling galls on the leaf branches and flowering shoots of Tamarix nilotica (Ehrenb.) (Family: Tamaricaceae). The present work studies the interaction of P. tamaricum with T. nilotica. It is an attempt to predict the potential current distribution of P. tamaricum and the host plant T. nilotica in Egypt using ecological-niche modeling.; in addition to the effect of altitude and vegetation cover on its distribution. Within the study areas, the number of galls per plant and plant cover had a significant positive correlation. There was no statistically significant relationship between the number of galls per plant and elevation. Temperature, elevation, and relative humidity were the strongest determinants of P. tamaricum potential distribution. Precipitation, soil types, and temperature were the most significant predictors for the potential distribution of T. nilotica. The present study suggests that gall-forming insects prefer larger plants to small plants. The present study reported that the highly suitable habitat for P. tamaricum is lower than for T. nilotica by 93.4% of the total highly suitable area.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Alt :

“Altitude”

AUC :

“The area under the curve”

m. a. s. l :

“Meters above sea level”

MaxEnt :

“The maximum entropy modeling technique.”

P :

“Probability”

ROC :

“The receiver operating characteristic.”

r s :

“The Spearman rank correlation coefficient.”

Sig. :

“Significant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Basic Sciences, Faculty of Graduate Studies and Environmental Research, Ain Shams University, 11566, El-Khalifa El-Mamoun Street, Abasiya, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed Kamel

  2. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Science (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt

    Sanad H. Ragab

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  1. Mohamed Kamel
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Contributions

MK & SHR collected the data, MK analyzed the results, and MK & SHR interpreted Ecological-niche modeling of the gall midge Psectrosema tamaricum and its host plant Tamarix nilotica in Egypt. MK was a major contributor to writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Kamel, M., Ragab, S.H. Ecological-niche modeling of the gall midge Psectrosema tamaricum and its host plant Tamarix nilotica in Egypt. Int J Trop Insect Sci 44, 885–900 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42690-024-01163-2

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