Table 3 The 10 most important predictors according to the RF model, indicated by the variable importance (VarImp) for the five Culicoides species of veterinary interest

AvRain^b

13.54

AvRain^b

13.40

AvRain^b

18.82

MaxNDVI^a

47.42

MaxNDVI^c

6.31

AvDlst^b

11.41

MinNDVI^b

13.16

MaxNDVI^b

10.37

AvRain^b

20.64

AvHost^c

5.91

MaxDlst^c

6.07

MaxNDVI^b

11.87

MinNDVI

8.42

MinNDVI^b

11.15

MinDlst^c

5.66

MinNlst^c

5.96

AvDlst^b

11.08

MaxRain^c

6.19

AvNlst^b

10.51

MaxDlst^c

5.65

AvNlst^c

5.47

MaxDlst^c

8.13

AvNlst^c

5.66

MaxNlst^c

9.50

AvDlst^c

5.64

MinDlst^c

5.32

MaxRain^c

6.35

AvDlst^c

5.25

MaxDlst^c

8.88

MaxNlst^c

5.30

MaxNDVI^c

5.04

MinNlst^c

5.85

MinNlst

4.62

MinNlst^c

8.33

MinNDVI^c

5.21

MaxRain

4.93

MinDlst^c

5.31

MaxNlst

4.37

MaxRain^c

7.25

lcSavanha^c

5.20

MaxNlst

4.63

AvNlst^c

5.16

MinDlst

4.09

MinDlst^c

6.91

lcForest^c

5.13

AvHost

4.08

AvHost

4.43

MaxDlst

3.45

AvDlst^c

6.81

lcWater

4.72