Spatial and temporal patterns of sarcoptic mange in wombats using the citizen science tool, WomSAT

Sujatha Mayadunnage, Hayley Jade Stannard, Peter West, Julie M. Old

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There is currently limited information regarding the levels of infection and distribution of sarcoptic mange in the wombat population throughout Australia. We analyzed cases of sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats reported into WomSAT, a website and mobile phone application where citizen scientists can upload sightings of wombats, burrows, and sarcoptic mange status. We used Maxent software to predict locations and the environmental factors associated with sarcoptic mange occurrence in bare-nosed wombats. A total of 1379 sarcoptic mange-infected and 3043 non-sarcoptic mange-infected wombats were reported by 674 and 841 citizen scientists, respectively. Of all the wombats reported to WomSAT from 2015 to 2019, 31.2% were infected with sarcoptic mange. Sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats was reported in 502 suburbs across four states. New South Wales had the highest number of sarcoptic mange cases reported to WomSAT. There was no statistically significant seasonal variation of sarcoptic mange levels in bare-nosed wombats. The model showed that Euclidean distance to urban areas was the highest contributing factor for sarcoptic mange occurrence. As distance to urban areas decreased, the suitability for sarcoptic mange increased. Annual precipitation was the next contributing factor in the model, with higher rainfall of 400–700 mm correlating to an increase in sarcoptic mange occurrence. As the data collected to date have provided the largest-scale contemporary distribution of sarcoptic mange in wombats, data should continue to be collected by citizen scientists as it is an easy and low-cost method of collecting data over large areas. We suggest targeting the identified hotspot areas and more site-specific studies for studying and mitigating sarcoptic mange in bare-nosed wombats.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)387-399
Number of pages13
JournalIntegrative Zoology
Volume19
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - May 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Integrative Zoology published by International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 The Authors. Integrative Zoology published by International Society of Zoological Sciences, Institute of Zoology/Chinese Academy of Sciences and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Keywords

  • Maxent
  • modeling
  • bare-nosed wombats
  • habitat suitability

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