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Climatic similarity and biological exchange in the worldwide airline transportation network

Climatic similarity and biological exchange in the worldwide airline transportation network
Climatic similarity and biological exchange in the worldwide airline transportation network
Recent increases in the rates of biological invasion and spread of infectious diseases have been linked to the continued expansion of the worldwide airline transportation network (WAN). Here, the global structure of the WAN is analysed in terms of climatic similarity to illuminate the risk of deliberate or accidental movements of climatically sensitive organisms around the world. From over 44?000 flight routes, we show, for each month of an average year, (i) those scheduled routes that link the most spatially distant but climatically similar airports, (ii) the climatically best-connected airports, and (iii) clusters of airports with similar climatic features. The way in which traffic volumes alter these findings is also examined. Climatic similarity across the WAN is skewed (most geographically close airports are climatically similar) but heavy-tailed (there are considerable numbers of geographically distant but climatically similar airports), with climate similarity highest in the June–August period, matching the annual peak in air traffic. Climatically matched, geographically distant airports form subnetworks within the WAN that change throughout the year. Further, the incorporation of passenger and freight traffic data highlight at greater risk of invasion those airports that are climatically well connected by numerous high capacity routes.
air travel, biological invasion, network analysis
0962-8452
1489-1496
Tatem, A.J.
6c6de104-a5f9-46e0-bb93-a1a7c980513e
Hay, S.I.
18d621e0-2813-4c05-b2b7-09df3f24aca7
Tatem, A.J.
6c6de104-a5f9-46e0-bb93-a1a7c980513e
Hay, S.I.
18d621e0-2813-4c05-b2b7-09df3f24aca7

Tatem, A.J. and Hay, S.I. (2007) Climatic similarity and biological exchange in the worldwide airline transportation network. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 274 (1617), 1489-1496. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0148). (PMID:17426013)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Recent increases in the rates of biological invasion and spread of infectious diseases have been linked to the continued expansion of the worldwide airline transportation network (WAN). Here, the global structure of the WAN is analysed in terms of climatic similarity to illuminate the risk of deliberate or accidental movements of climatically sensitive organisms around the world. From over 44?000 flight routes, we show, for each month of an average year, (i) those scheduled routes that link the most spatially distant but climatically similar airports, (ii) the climatically best-connected airports, and (iii) clusters of airports with similar climatic features. The way in which traffic volumes alter these findings is also examined. Climatic similarity across the WAN is skewed (most geographically close airports are climatically similar) but heavy-tailed (there are considerable numbers of geographically distant but climatically similar airports), with climate similarity highest in the June–August period, matching the annual peak in air traffic. Climatically matched, geographically distant airports form subnetworks within the WAN that change throughout the year. Further, the incorporation of passenger and freight traffic data highlight at greater risk of invasion those airports that are climatically well connected by numerous high capacity routes.

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More information

Published date: 22 July 2007
Keywords: air travel, biological invasion, network analysis
Organisations: Geography & Environment

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 348331
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/348331
ISSN: 0962-8452
PURE UUID: a6bf59a8-a97a-44c6-b6c0-f5b05166c1e4
ORCID for A.J. Tatem: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7270-941X

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Date deposited: 12 Feb 2013 11:31
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:43

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Contributors

Author: A.J. Tatem ORCID iD
Author: S.I. Hay

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