Performing Department
ENTOMOLOGY & PLANT PATHOLOGY
Non Technical Summary
Mosquito-borne diseases are some of the most pressing problems facing public health today, both in the United States and abroad. Various approaches exist to limit the impact of these diseases on human populations. Historically, understanding the ecology of specific vectors of disease has proven to be the most effective means of controlling epidemics. In this proposal, I will examine the effects of land use in human dominated landscapes on mosquito populations. I will also explore the connections between larval habitat quality and egg-laying behavior. These studies will include a combination of laboratory experiments, field surveys and field experiments. Determining the distribution of mosquitoes in the landscape will assist with effective application of targeted control methodologies. As egg-laying is the activity that immediately precedes disease transmission, understanding how female mosquitoes choose where to lay eggs has tremendous potential as a target for the elimination of disease.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
70%
Applied
30%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
1. Strengthen basic and applied research on the mosquito, pathogen, hosts, and environmental factors that influence mosquito-borne disease emergence. 2. Use knowledge of mosquito, pathogen, vertebrate reservoir, and environment interactions to enhance ability to predict and prevent conditions leading to disease. 3. Develop new strategies to control mosquito disease vectors. 5. Develop and maintain the national scientific expertise to respond to future health threats by supporting training programs.
Project Methods
To address the four objectives outlined in this study, a variety of ecological methods will be employed. A survey of mosquito populations will be conducted over replicated urban-rural transects in Tulsa County, OK and Palm Beach County, FL. Surveys will use a variety of trapping methodologies to capture a diversity of disease carrying mosquitoes. Data will be collected using satellite images on land usage. These data will be analyzed using a myriad of sophisticated, multivariate techniques to relate landscape features and mosquito diversity and abundance and therefore risk of disease. Experiments will be conducted in the laboratory at Oklahoma State University that examine competition and oviposition in larval habitats with a variety of leaf inputs (representing a diversity of habitat quality). The results of these experiments will make explicit connections between larval performance and adult oviposition behavior, an area with many potential control (of both pests and diseases) applications. Further experiments will examine how a diversity of resources influences larval competition between mosquitoes of varying ecological similarity. All experiments will be analyzed with appropriate statistical tests.