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Effects of Detritus on the Mosquito Culex pipiens : Phragmites and Schedonorus (Festuca) Invasion Affect Population Performance
Species interactions that influence the performance of the exotic mosquito can have important effects on the transmission risk of West Nile virus (WNV). Invasive plants that alter the vegetation communities of ephemeral ground pools may facilitate or resist the spread of (L.) by altering allochthono...
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Published in: | International journal of environmental research and public health 2019-10, Vol.16 (21), p.4118 |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Species interactions that influence the performance of the exotic mosquito
can have important effects on the transmission risk of West Nile virus (WNV). Invasive plants that alter the vegetation communities of ephemeral ground pools may facilitate or resist the spread of
(L.) by altering allochthonous inputs of detritus in those pools. To test this hypothesis, we combined field surveys of roadside stormwater ditches with a laboratory microcosm experiment to examine relationships between
performance and water quality in systems containing detritus from invasive
(Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud., introduced
(Schreb.) Dumort., or native
L. or
L. In ditches,
abundance was unrelated to detritus species but female
were significantly larger from ditches with
and smaller with
. Larger and smaller
were also produced in microcosms provisioned with
and
respectively, yet the per capita rate of population of change did not vary. Larger females from habitats with
were likely caused by faster decay rates of
and resultant increases in microbial food, but lower survival as a result of fouling and higher tannin-lignin concentrations resulted in little changes to overall population performance. Larger female mosquitoes have been shown to have greater potential for transmitting arboviruses. Our findings suggest that changed community-level interactions from plant invasions in urban ephemeral ground pools can affect the fitness of
pipiens and possibly increase WNV risk. |
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ISSN: | 1660-4601 1661-7827 1660-4601 |
DOI: | 10.3390/ijerph16214118 |