Table 2.
Acronym and definition of each variable used in the present study
| Acronym | Description |
|---|---|
| DON | Monthly density of nymphs per 100 m2 |
| S | Site name (factor with 4 levels: low, medium, high, top) |
| Y | Year of the study (covariate: 1, 2, …, 15) |
| D | Day of the year for the tick sampling (covariate: 1, 2, …, 365) |
| BM[1,1] | Beech mast index in year y − 1 (covariate: 1, 2, …, 5) |
| BM[2,2] | Beech mast index in year y − 2 (covariate: 1, 2, …, 5) |
| BM[2,1] | Beech mast index with a 2-year time lag for the spring peak and a 1-year time lag for the fall peak (covariate: 1, 2, …, 5) |
| t | Temperature on day of tick sampling from the field-collected data (°C) |
| rh | Relative humidity on day of tick sampling from the field-collected data (%) |
| sd | Saturation deficit on day of tick sampling from the field-collected data (mmHg) |
| TY[i] | Mean annual temperature in year [i] from the weather station data (°C); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| RHY[i] | Mean annual relative humidity in year [i] from the weather station data (%); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| SDY[i] | Mean annual saturation deficit in year [i] from the weather station data (mmHg); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| PRY[i] | Mean annual precipitation in year [i] from the weather station data (mm); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| SNY[i] | Annual snowfall in year [i] from the weather station data (cm); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively. This variable is calculated from 1 October (e.g., previous year) to 31 May |
| T[x, i] | Mean seasonal temperature of season [x] in year [i] from the weather station data (°C); the subscript [x] refers to four different seasons: spring (L), summer (S), fall (F), winter (W); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| RH[x, i] | Mean seasonal relative humidity of the fall in year y from the weather station data (%); the subscript [x] refers to four different seasons: spring (L), summer (S), fall (F), winter (W); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| SD[x, i] | Mean seasonal saturation deficit of the fall in year y from the weather station data (mmHg); the subscript [x] refers to four different seasons: spring (L), summer (S), fall (F), winter (W); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |
| PR[x, i] | Mean seasonal precipitation of the winter in year y from the weather station data (mm); the subscript [x] refers to four different seasons: spring (L), summer (S), fall (F), winter (W); the subscript [i] refers to one of three different years: y, y − 1, and y − 2, which are denoted as 0, 1, and 2, respectively |