Modelagem de nicho climático de Biomphalaria glabrata (Say, 1818), Biomphalaria straminea (Dunker, 1848) e Biomphalaria tenagophila (Orbigny, 1835) e análise cienciométrica da pesquisa sobre o gênero Biomphalaria Preston, 1910, no Brasil

Abstract

The freshwater snails of the genus Biomphalaria belonging to the family Planorbidae are widely distributed in Brazil. These molluscs can tolerate different environmental pressures, but it is difficult to provide a specific characterization of their ecological niche. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the parasite Schistosoma mansoni. In Brazil. Biomphalaria glabrata, Biomphalaria straminea and Biomphalaria tenagophila act as natural intermediate hosts for this parasite. Climate change can affect the epidemiological potential of schistosomiasis transmission. Thus, accessing the potential effects of global climate change is essential for decision making about this disease. Hence, the goal of the present work is to provide a climatic niche model for these three species of Biomphalaria, based on the occurrence data for Brazil. The species occurrence data were obtained from biodiversity databases, scientific literature, and from the collection of the Museu de Malacologia Prof. Maury Pinto de Oliveira. The bioclimatic variables were obtained from the WorldClim database and for the climatic niche modeling, the MaxEnt algorithm was used. We obtained a total of 857 occurrence records for the three species and 46.6% of the data was excluded from the analysis according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Biomphalaria glabrata was the most representative species with 237 records, followed by B. tenagophila with 156 and B. straminea with 114 records. Biomphalaria straminea presents the greater coverage of a suitability area along the Brazilian coast. For the three species, the hydrographic regions layer was the one that contributed the most to the model. The models obtained for the three species show that the high suitability areas are concentrated in the most urbanized areas, evidencing the need for interventions by the public authorities and adequate management of the intermediate hosts of S. mansoni.