Estimating habitat suitability for potential hantavirus reservoirs in north-western Patagonia using satellite imagery: Searching for the best predictive tools

We modelled potential distribution maps for four species of rodents known to be reservoirs of the hantavirus disease. These models provide general distribution hypotheses based on a 14-year period and 274 field capture sites. Satellite remote sensing were used to extrapolate climatic and environmental features of potentially suitable habitats for these rodents in Nahuel Huapi National Park and surrounding areas. We tested the accuracy of different satellite sensors for the geographic distribution of Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, Abrothrix longipilis, Abrothrix olivaceus and Loxodontomys micropus. When looking for the best method to predict the presence of potential hantavirus reservoir species assemblages, the best prediction levels were obtained using supervised parallelepiped classifications of the SAC-C Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) combined with the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) (91.71% for A. longipilis, 95.35% for A. olivaceus, 91.92% for L. micropus and 90.82% for O. longicaudatus). These results show that upper components of the landscape structure (e.g. climate and topography) determine the spatial distribution of hantavirus reservoirs independently of the floristic composition of the vegetation patches.