Changes in Container-Breeding Mosquito Diversity and Abundance Along an Urbanization Gradient are Associated With Dominance of Arboviral Vectors

Using community science data to assess the association between urbanization and the presence of invasive Aedes species in Hungary

BACKGROUND

Urbanization can be a significant contributor to the spread of invasive mosquito vector species, and the diseases they carry, as urbanized habitats provide access to a great density of food resources (humans and domestic animals) and offer abundant breeding sites for these vectors. Although anthropogenic landscapes are often associated with the presence of invasive mosquito species, we still have little understanding about the relationships between some of these and the built environment.

METHODS

This study explores the association between urbanization level and the occurrence of invasive Aedes species, specifically Aedes albopictus, Aedes japonicus, and Aedes koreicus, in Hungary, using data from a community (or citizen) science program undertaken between 2019 and 2022.

RESULTS

The association between each of these species and urbanized landscapes within an extensive geographic area was found to differ. Using the same standardized approach, Ae. albopictus showed a statistically significant and positive relationship with urbanization, whereas Ae. japonicus and Ae. koreicus did not.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings highlight the importance of community science to mosquito research, as the data gathered using this approach can be used to make qualitative comparisons between species to explore their ecological requirements.

Community efforts to monitor and manage Aedes mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with ovitraps and litter reduction in east Tennessee

BACKGROUND

East Tennessee (USA) is burdened by mosquito-borne La Crosse virus disease, but minimal resources for mosquito surveillance, management, or related community education exist in the region. To address these needs, we developed a program to train middle and high school educators in basic medical entomology. The educators then used their skills in the classroom to teach students about La Crosse virus disease and conduct mosquito collection experiments. As a case study of a potential application of classroom-collected data, we also partnered with a local non-profit organization to assess the potential for a volunteer litter cleanup to reduce mosquito populations in a Tennessee neighborhood.

METHODS

Our first objective was to investigate the ability for educators and their students (schools) to collect high-quality mosquito surveillance data. In 2019 and 2020, we collected Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) eggs during the same study period as schools and assessed whether data collected by schools reflected the same findings as our own data. Our second objective was to investigate the impact of a volunteer litter cleanup event on Aedes mosquito abundance. In 2021, we collected Aedes eggs before and after a neighborhood trash cleanup while schools conducted their own mosquito egg collections. Using the school collections as non-treatment sites, we used a Before-After-Control-Impact analysis to determine if there was a significant decline in egg abundance after the cleanup.

RESULTS

In 2019, mosquito abundance trends were similar between our data and school data but differed significantly during some weeks. After refining our protocols in 2020, school data was highly similar to our data, indicating that schools consistently collected high-quality surveillance data in the program's second year. In 2021, we found a significant decline in Aedes egg abundance after the litter cleanup event in comparison to the schools, but the number of adults reared from those eggs did not differ between sites after the cleanup.

CONCLUSION

The results of our work demonstrate the potential for community-driven programs to monitor mosquito abundance trends and for volunteer-based cleanup events to reduce the burden of Aedes mosquitoes. In the absence of infrastructure and resources, academic-community partnerships like the ones evaluated here, provide opportunities to help resource limited areas.