Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity
Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are universally recognized as troublesome pests and vectors of various pathogens and parasites. Understandably, the species makeup and diversity of individual populations depends on local and broad scale environmental trends, especially on temperature and hydrological...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/352 |
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| author | Heli Kirik Viktoria Burtin Lea Tummeleht Olavi Kurina |
| author_facet | Heli Kirik Viktoria Burtin Lea Tummeleht Olavi Kurina |
| author_sort | Heli Kirik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are universally recognized as troublesome pests and vectors of various pathogens and parasites. Understandably, the species makeup and diversity of individual populations depends on local and broad scale environmental trends, especially on temperature and hydrological variations. Anthropogenic landscapes make for unique habitats, but their effect on insects likely varies across climatic regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the diversity and seasonal patterns of urban mosquitoes in the boreal region. Specimens were collected with an insect net from May to September during three years and determined to species or species group level. Weather information was added to each data point and results analyzed using multivariate regression models. Fieldwork yielded 1890 mosquitoes from four genera. Both abundance and the effective number of species (ENS) significantly decreased during the study period. The number of collected mosquitoes had a negative correlation with wind speed and temperature, latter of which exhibited a negative association with humidity. Species succession followed predictable patterns, but with some variation between years. Still, <i>Culex pipiens</i>/<i>Culex torrentium</i> were the most abundant throughout the study. Importantly, all dominant species were known disease vectors. Our work showed that higher temperatures could result in fewer mosquitoes in boreal towns. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ba1f80594f64c5aaf832fd1387ec1ad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:28Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ba1f80594f64c5aaf832fd1387ec1ad2023-11-21T15:41:47ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502021-04-0112435210.3390/insects12040352Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and DiversityHeli Kirik0Viktoria Burtin1Lea Tummeleht2Olavi Kurina3Inst of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwaldi 5D, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaEnvironmental Board, Narva mnt. 7a, 15172 Tallinn, EstoniaInst of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwaldi 62, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaInst of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwaldi 5D, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaMosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are universally recognized as troublesome pests and vectors of various pathogens and parasites. Understandably, the species makeup and diversity of individual populations depends on local and broad scale environmental trends, especially on temperature and hydrological variations. Anthropogenic landscapes make for unique habitats, but their effect on insects likely varies across climatic regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the diversity and seasonal patterns of urban mosquitoes in the boreal region. Specimens were collected with an insect net from May to September during three years and determined to species or species group level. Weather information was added to each data point and results analyzed using multivariate regression models. Fieldwork yielded 1890 mosquitoes from four genera. Both abundance and the effective number of species (ENS) significantly decreased during the study period. The number of collected mosquitoes had a negative correlation with wind speed and temperature, latter of which exhibited a negative association with humidity. Species succession followed predictable patterns, but with some variation between years. Still, <i>Culex pipiens</i>/<i>Culex torrentium</i> were the most abundant throughout the study. Importantly, all dominant species were known disease vectors. Our work showed that higher temperatures could result in fewer mosquitoes in boreal towns.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/352<i>Aedes</i><i>Anopheles</i><i>Coquillettidia</i><i>Culex</i><i>Culiseta</i>entomology |
| spellingShingle | Heli Kirik Viktoria Burtin Lea Tummeleht Olavi Kurina Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity Insects <i>Aedes</i> <i>Anopheles</i> <i>Coquillettidia</i> <i>Culex</i> <i>Culiseta</i> entomology |
| title | Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity |
| title_full | Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity |
| title_fullStr | Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity |
| title_short | Friends in All the Green Spaces: Weather Dependent Changes in Urban Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance and Diversity |
| title_sort | friends in all the green spaces weather dependent changes in urban mosquito diptera culicidae abundance and diversity |
| topic | <i>Aedes</i> <i>Anopheles</i> <i>Coquillettidia</i> <i>Culex</i> <i>Culiseta</i> entomology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/4/352 |
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