scholarly journals Mosquito Communities Vary across Landscape and Vertical Strata in Indian River County, Florida

Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1575
Author(s):  
Bryan V. Giordano ◽  
Anthony Cruz ◽  
Daniel W. Pérez-Ramos ◽  
Martina M. Ramos ◽  
Yasmin Tavares ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Coastal Conservation ◽  
Culex Nigripalpus ◽  
Nuisance Species ◽  
Landscape Types ◽  
Species Specific

Mosquito and arbovirus surveillance is essential to the protection of public health. A majority of surveys are undertaken at ground level. However, mosquitoes shelter, breed, and quest for hosts across vertical strata, thus limiting our ability to fully describe mosquito and arboviral communities. To elucidate patterns of mosquito vertical stratification, canopy traps were constructed to sample mosquitoes at heights of 1.5, 5.0, and 8.7 m across three different landscape types in a Florida coastal conservation area. We assessed trapping efforts using individual-based rarefaction and extrapolation. The effects of height, landscape, site location, and sampling date on mosquito community composition were parsed out using permutational ANOVA on a Hellinger-transformed Bray–Curtis dissimilarity abundance matrix. Lastly, a generalized linear mixed effects model (GLMM) was used to explore species-specific vertical patterns. We observed differences in sampling effort and community composition structure across various heights and landscapes. Our GLMM revealed significant effects of trap height for Aedes taeniorhynchus, Anopheles crucians, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, and Culex coronator, but not for Culex nigripalpus, the ultra-dominant species present in this area. Together these data provide evidence that height and landscape significantly affect mosquito community structures and highlight a need to develop sampling regimes to target specific vector and nuisance species at their preferred height and across different landscape types.

scholarly journals Hunter-gatherers in context: Mammal community composition in a northern Tanzania landscape used by Hadza foragers and Datoga pastoralists

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Wood ◽  
Riccardo S. Millar ◽  
Nicholas Wright ◽  
Joshua Baumgartner ◽  
Hannah Holmquist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Wild Mammals ◽  
Northern Tanzania ◽  
Mammal Community ◽  
Species Specific

In many regions of sub Saharan Africa large mammals occur in human-dominated areas, yet their community composition and species-specific densities have rarely been described in areas occupied by traditional hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. Surveys of mammal populations in such areas provide important measures of biodiversity and provide ecological context for understanding hunting practices. Using a sampling grid centered on a Hadza hunter-gatherer camp and covering 36 km² of semi-arid savannah in northern Tanzania, we assessed mammals using camera traps (n = 19 stations) for c. 5 months (2,182 trap nights). In the study area (Tli’ika in the Hadza language), we recorded 36 wild mammal species, resembling a near complete mammal community. Rarefaction curves suggest that sampling effort was sufficient to capture mammal species richness. Species-specific densities were estimated using a random encounter model and site- and species’ body mass- specific estimates of the area sampled at each camera; confidence intervals were estimated using bootstrapping. Point estimates of densities varied by c. four orders of magnitude, from 0.003 ind./km² (African wild dog) to 27.5 ind./km² (Kirk’s dik dik). Densities of livestock (cattle, donkey, sheep and goat) were high, particularly when estimated using directly observed herd sizes. Cumulative biomass density of herbivorous livestock species exceeded that of all wild mammals by a factor of 3.3-38.7. We compare our study’s data to camera trap rates recorded in a fully protected area of northern Tanzania with similar precipitation (Lake Manyara National Park), revealing that abundance indices of most wildlife species in Tli’ika were much lower. We discuss how these data inform studies of Hadza hunting and models of hunter-gatherer foraging ecology and diet.

scholarly journals Anurans in a Subarctic Tundra Landscape Near Cape Churchill, Manitoba

2008 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew E. Reiter ◽  
Clint W. Boal ◽  
David E. Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Boreal Forest ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Habitat Associations ◽  
Probability Of Detection ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Wood Frogs ◽  
Lithobates Sylvaticus ◽  
Landscape Types ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Monitoring Protocols

Distribution, abundance, and habitat relationships of anurans inhabiting subarctic regions are poorly understood, and anuran monitoring protocols developed for temperate regions may not be applicable across large roadless areas of northern landscapes. In addition, arctic and subarctic regions of North America are predicted to experience changes in climate and, in some areas, are experiencing habitat alteration due to high rates of herbivory by breeding and migrating waterfowl. To better understand subarctic anuran abundance, distribution, and habitat associations, we conducted anuran calling surveys in the Cape Churchill region of Wapusk National Park, Manitoba, Canada, in 2004 and 2005. We conducted surveys along ~1-km transects distributed across three landscape types (coastal tundra, interior sedge meadow–tundra, and boreal forest–tundra interface) to estimate densities and probabilities of detection of Boreal Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris maculata) and Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus). We detected a Wood Frog or Boreal Chorus Frog on 22 (87%) of 26 transects surveyed, but probability of detection varied between years and species and among landscape types. Estimated densities of both species increased from the coastal zone inland toward the boreal forest edge. Our results suggest anurans occur across all three landscape types in our study area, but that species-specific spatial patterns exist in their abundances. Considerations for both spatial and temporal variation in abundance and detection probability need to be incorporated into surveys and monitoring programs for subarctic anurans.

Using geomorphology to assess contour furrowing in western New South Wales, Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gresley Wakelin-King
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Post Treatment ◽  
Site Location ◽  
Treatment Management ◽  
Landscape Types ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
Treatment Design ◽  
Geomorphic Processes

This study examines landscape rehabilitation treatments installed 20–40 years ago in the Western Catchment of NSW. Treatment outcomes were assessed using geomorphic criteria, because geomorphic processes are fundamental to ecological permanence. Contour furrowing creates artificial runoff-runon sets which intercept runoff (resistance to flow by windrows microrelief and surface roughness) and promote infiltration (artificial permeability by ripping). As originally conceived, after windrows subside, flow resistance would be afforded by surface roughness under belts of vegetation. This study shows that rehabilitation treatments have a more complex relationship with the landscape than this would suggest, and that the final effect of the treatment depends on the geomorphic processes natural to the site. Treatment design should therefore be site-specific. The relevant aspects of treatment design are site location, runoff : runon ratio (expressed as furrow spacing and furrow length), furrow placement, and post-treatment management. Some long-term successes are documented. In ironstone ridge country affected by impermeable hard-setting soils, furrowing creates artificial permeability, allowing plant germination; plant material in the soil reverses hard-setting and establishes self-sustaining permeability. In stony gilgai country furrowing through vegetated patches can aid in re-establishing vegetation, but furrowing through stony runoff patches only diminishes, rather than improves, landscape function. Other landscape types will have different key attributes. In all cases, selection of appropriate sites for rehabilitation treatment is of primary importance. The 1990s NSW Soil Conservation Service best-practice included a specialised furrower, surveying techniques for accurate furrow placement along the contour, staggered gaps along each furrow line to reduce risks of gullying by windrow breakthrough, and post-treatment management of total grazing pressure. New guidelines for treatment design developed from this study include determining for each site the optimum runoff:runon ratio (which varies according to climate, gradient, vegetation, and regolith), and matching furrow spacing and furrow/gap length to local runoff:runon ratios. In stony gilgai country, furrow placement should be along the contour but within non-stony patches; elsewhere, placement should be rigorously along the contour. In ironstone ridge country, a greater runoff:runon ratio, commensurate with the area’s apparently larger patch scale, can be achieved by having more gap than furrow along each furrow line. No single rehabilitation technique will fit all landscape types, and these guidelines will ideally be developed further with investigation of other landscapes.

scholarly journals Species-specific responses to climate change and community composition determine future calcification rates of Florida Keys reefs

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 1023-1035 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remy R. Okazaki ◽  
Erica K. Towle ◽  
Ruben van Hooidonk ◽  
Carolina Mor ◽  
Rivah N. Winter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Florida Keys ◽  
Species Specific

scholarly journals Photosynthesis of boreal ground vegetation after a forest clear-cut

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2495-2507 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Kulmala ◽  
J. Pumpanen ◽  
T. Vesala ◽  
P. Hari
Keyword(s):  
Photosynthetic Activity ◽  
Calluna Vulgaris ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Plant Size ◽  
Rubus Idaeus ◽  
Temperature History ◽  
Ground Vegetation ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Species Specific

Abstract. Heather (Calluna vulgaris), rosebay willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium), wavy hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) and raspberry (Rubus idaeus) are typical species at boreal clear-cut sites. In this study, we measured their photosynthesis separately in the growing season of 2005 using a manual chamber. All measured species showed clear and species-specific seasonal cycles of photosynthetic activity (Pmax). The maxima of C. vulgaris and E. angustifolium occurred around June and July, while that of R. idaeus occurred as late as August. A simple model of photosynthetic activity is presented, addressing the photosynthesis of C. vulgaris was mainly explained by temperature history when the soil moisture is high. The activity of deciduous D. flexuosa also followed the temperature history, unlike the activities of E. angustifolium and R. idaeus. During a short drought, some shoots decreased their Pmax levels but none of the species showed similar reactions between individuals. We also observed that the comparison of the whole-plant Pmax or respiration of different-sized individuals were less scattered than the results based on full-grown leaf mass, implying that species-specific rates of photosynthesis at ground level are rather similar regardless of the plant size. Using species composition and continuous temperature and light measurements, we upscaled the species-specific process rates and integrated fixed and respired CO2 of ground vegetation for the entire 2005 growing season. The photosynthetic production per surface area of soil was 760 g C m−2 y−1 at the fertile site and 300 g C m−2 y−1 at the infertile site. During the snow-free period (18 April–21 November), the above ground parts of measured species released 75 g C m−2 y−1 at the infertile site. At the fertile site, E. angustifolium and R. idaeus respired 22 and 12 g C m−2 y−1, respectively.

How Should Ecologists Define Sampling Effort? The Potential of Procrustes Analysis for Studying Variation in Community Composition

Biotropica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor S. Saito ◽  
Alaide A. Fonseca-Gessner ◽  
Tadeu Siqueira
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Procrustes Analysis ◽  
Sampling Effort

scholarly journals Rapid ageing and species identification of natural mosquitoes for malaria surveillance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doreen J. Siria ◽  
Roger Sanou ◽  
Joshua Mitton ◽  
Emmanuel P. Mwanga ◽  
Abdoulaye Niang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mosquito Species ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Malaria Vectors ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Malaria Surveillance ◽  
Vector Borne Diseases ◽  
Vector Borne ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe malaria parasite, which is transmitted by several Anopheles mosquito species, requires more time to reach its human-transmissible stage than the average lifespan of a mosquito. Monitoring the species-specific age structure of mosquito populations is critical to evaluating the impact of vector control interventions on malaria risk. We developed a rapid, cost-effective surveillance method based on deep learning of mid-infrared spectra of mosquitoes’ cuticle that simultaneously identifies the species and the age of three main malaria vectors, in natural populations. Using over 40,000 ecologically and genetically diverse females, we could speciate and age grade An. gambiae, An. arabiensis, and An. coluzzii with up to 95% accuracy. Further, our model learned the age of new populations with minimal sampling effort and detected the impact of control interventions on simulated mosquito populations, measured as a shift in their age structures. We anticipate our method to be applied to other arthropod vector-borne diseases.

scholarly journals Species-Specific Responses of Bird Song Output in the Presence of Drones

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Wilson ◽  
Kenneth S. Boyle ◽  
Jennifer L. Gilmore ◽  
Cody J. Kiefer ◽  
Matthew F. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Ground Level ◽  
Wald Test ◽  
Mixed Effect ◽  
Yellow Warbler ◽  
American Robin ◽  
Northern Cardinal ◽  
Geothlypis Trichas ◽  
Field Sparrow ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Behavioral Impact

AbstractDrones are now widely used to study wildlife, but applications for studying bioacoustics have been limited. Drones can be used to collect data on bird vocalizations, but an ongoing concern is that noise from the drones could change bird vocalization behavior. To test this behavioral impact we conducted an experiment using 30 sound localization arrays to track the song output of seven songbird species before, during, and after a 3-minute flight of a small quadcopter drone hovering at 50 m above ground level. We analyzed 8,303 song bouts, of which 2,285 song bouts of 184 individual birds were within 50 meters of the array centers. We used linear mixed effect models to assess patterns in song output showed patterns that could be attributed to the drone’s presence. We found no evidence of any effect of the drone for five species: American Robin Turdus migratorius, Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas, Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla, Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia, and Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea. However, we found a substantial decrease in Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia song detections during the 3-minute drone hover, such that there was an 81% drop in detections in the 3rd minute (Wald-test, p<0.001), compared with before the drone’s introduction. In contrast, the number of singing Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis increased after the drone was introduced, and remained almost five-fold higher for 4-minutes after the drone departed (P<0.001). Further, we found an increase in cardinal contact/alarm calls when the drone was overhead, with the elevated calling-rate sustaining for 2 minutes after the drone had departed (P<0.001). Our study suggests that responses of songbirds to drones may be species-specific, an important consideration when proposing the use of drones in avian studies. We note that recent advances in drone technology have resulted in much quieter drones, which makes us hopeful that the impacts that we detected could be greatly reduced.

scholarly journals A comparative assessment of adult mosquito trapping methods to estimate spatial patterns of abundance and community composition in southern Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin E. Gorsich ◽  
Brianna R. Beechler ◽  
Peter M. van Bodegom ◽  
Danny Govender ◽  
Milehna M. Guarido ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Light Trap ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Adult Mosquito ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Regional Patterns ◽  
Mosquito Abundance ◽  
Trapping Methods ◽  
Surveillance Programs

AbstractBackgroundAssessing adult mosquito populations is an important component of disease surveillance programs and ecosystem health assessments. Inference from adult trapping datasets involves comparing populations across space and time, but comparisons based on different trapping methods may be biased if traps have different efficiencies or sample different subsets of the mosquito community.MethodsWe compared four widely-used trapping methods for adult mosquito data collection in Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa: Centers for Disease Control miniature light trap (CDC), Biogents Sentinel trap (BG), Biogents gravid Aedes trap (GAT) and a net trap. We quantified how trap choice and sampling effort influence inferences on the regional distribution of mosquito abundance, richness and community composition.ResultsThe CDC and net traps together collected 96% (47% and 49% individually) of the 955 female mosquitoes sampled and 100% (85% and 78% individually) of the 40 species or species complexes identified. The CDC and net trap also identified similar regional patterns of community composition. However, inference on the regional patterns of abundance differed between these traps because mosquito abundance in the net trap was influenced by variation in weather conditions. The BG and GAT traps collected significantly fewer mosquitoes, limiting regional comparisons of abundance and community composition.ConclusionsThis study represents the first systematic assessment of trapping methods in natural savanna ecosystems in southern Africa. We recommend the CDC trap or the net trap for future monitoring and surveillance programs.

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