Forest edge landscape context affects mosquito community composition and risk of pathogen emergence
Forest edges, where humans, mosquitoes, and wildlife interact, may serve as a nexus for zoonotic arbovirus exchange. Although often treated as uniform interfaces, the landscape context of edge habitats can greatly impact ecological interactions. Here, we investigated how the landscape context of forest edges shapes mosquito community structure in an Amazon rainforest reserve near the city of Manaus, Brazil, using hand-nets to sample mosquitoes at three distinct forest edge types. Sampling sites were situated at edges bordering urban land cover, rural land cover, and natural treefall gaps, while sites in continuous forest served as controls. Community composition differed substantially among edge types, with rural edges supporting the highest species diversity. Rural edges also provided suitable habitat for forest specialists, including key sylvatic vectors, of which <i>Haemagogus janthinomys</i> was the most abundant species sampled overall. Our findings emphasize the importance of landscape context in assessing pathogen emergence risk at forest edges.
Authors
- Marcus Lacerda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3374-9985)
- José Tenaçol Andes Júnior
- Flamarion Prado Assunção
- Kathryn A. Hanley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-2639)
- Vincent Sluydts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5213-851X)
- Igor Pedrosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6845-0119)
- Nelson Ferreira Fé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9099-8403)
- Michaela Buenemann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5139-739X)
- Edson Rodrigues Costa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6820-9087)
- Claudia Mendonça (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2690-5257)
- Marcelo Gordo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5230-9091)
- Vera Margarete Scarpassa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1607-9246)
- Nikos Vasilakis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0708-3289)
- Maria Paula Gomes Mourão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6458-0900)
- Adam Hendy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8082-6352)
- André Girão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7767-5614)
- Taly Nayandra Figueira dos Santos
Institutions
- New Mexico State University (US)
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (BR)
- Fundação de Medicina Tropical (BR)
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
- Universidade Federal do Amazonas (BR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2024-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.111576
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.26
Funders
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
- National Institutes of Health
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases