The Effects of Landscape Modifications on the Long-Term Persistence of Animal Populations

Background

The effects of landscape modifications on the long-term persistence of wild animal populations is of crucial importance to wildlife managers and conservation biologists, but obtaining experimental evidence using real landscapes is usually impossible. To circumvent this problem we used individual-based models (IBMs) of interacting animals in experimental modifications of a real Danish landscape. The models incorporate as much as possible of the behaviour and ecology of four species with contrasting life-history characteristics: skylark (Alauda arvensis), vole (Microtus agrestis), a ground beetle (Bembidion lampros) and a linyphiid spider (Erigone atra). This allows us to quantify the population implications of experimental modifications of landscape configuration and composition.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Starting with a real agricultural landscape, we progressively reduced landscape complexity by (i) homogenizing habitat patch shapes, (ii) randomizing the locations of the patches, and (iii) randomizing the size of the patches. The first two steps increased landscape fragmentation. We assessed the effects of these manipulations on the long-term persistence of animal populations by measuring equilibrium population sizes and time to recovery after disturbance. Patch rearrangement and the presence of corridors had a large effect on the population dynamics of species whose local success depends on the surrounding terrain. Landscape modifications that reduced population sizes increased recovery times in the short-dispersing species, making small populations vulnerable to increasing disturbance. The species that were most strongly affected by large disturbances fluctuated little in population sizes in years when no perturbations took place.

Significance

Traditional approaches to the management and conservation of populations use either classical methods of population analysis, which fail to adequately account for the spatial configurations of landscapes, or landscape ecology, which accounts for landscape structure but has difficulty predicting the dynamics of populations living in them. Here we show how realistic and replicable individual-based models can bridge the gap between non-spatial population theory and non-dynamic landscape ecology. A major strength of the approach is its ability to identify population vulnerabilities not detected by standard population viability analyses.     

The Spread of Aedes albopictus in Metropolitan France: Contribution of Environmental Drivers and Human Activities and Predictions for a Near Future

Invasion of new territories by insect vector species that can transmit pathogens is one of the most important threats for human health. The spread of the mosquito Aedes albopictus in Europe is emblematic, because of its major role in the emergence and transmission of arboviruses such as dengue or chikungunya. Here, we modeled the spread of this mosquito species in France through a statistical framework taking advantage of a long-term surveillance dataset going back to the first observation of Ae. albopictus in the Metropolitan area. After validating the model, we show that human activities are especially important for mosquito dispersion while land use is a major factor for mosquito establishment. More importantly, we show that Ae. albopictus invasion is accelerating through time in this area, resulting in a geographic range extending further and further year after year. We also show that sporadic “jump” of Ae. albopictus in a new location far from the colonized area did not succeed in starting a new invasion front so far. Finally, we discuss on a potential adaptation to cooler climate and the risk of invasion into Northern latitudes.     

Large-Scale Modelling of the Environmentally-Driven Population Dynamics of Temperate Aedes albopictus (Skuse)

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is a highly invasive vector species. It is a proven vector of dengue and chikungunya viruses, with the potential to host a further 24 arboviruses. It has recently expanded its geographical range, threatening many countries in the Middle East, Mediterranean, Europe and North America. Here, we investigate the theoretical limitations of its range expansion by developing an environmentally-driven mathematical model of its population dynamics. We focus on the temperate strain of Ae. albopictus and compile a comprehensive literature-based database of physiological parameters. As a novel approach, we link its population dynamics to globally-available environmental datasets by performing inference on all parameters. We adopt a Bayesian approach using experimental data as prior knowledge and the surveillance dataset of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, as evidence. The model accounts for temperature, precipitation, human population density and photoperiod as the main environmental drivers, and, in addition, incorporates the mechanism of diapause and a simple breeding site model. The model demonstrates high predictive skill over the reference region and beyond, confirming most of the current reports of vector presence in Europe. One of the main hypotheses derived from the model is the survival of Ae. albopictus populations through harsh winter conditions. The model, constrained by the environmental datasets, requires that either diapausing eggs or adult vectors have increased cold resistance. The model also suggests that temperature and photoperiod control diapause initiation and termination differentially. We demonstrate that it is possible to account for unobserved properties and constraints, such as differences between laboratory and field conditions, to derive reliable inferences on the environmental dependence of Ae. albopictus populations.     

Rearranging agricultural landscapes towards habitat quality optimisation: In silico application to pest regulation

Modern agriculture suffers from its dependence on chemical inputs and subsequent impacts on health and environment. Alternatively, protecting crops against pests can be achieved through the reinforcement of regulation ecological services. Our work propounds a data-driven methodological framework to derive relevant agricultural landscape rearrangements enhancing populations of beneficial organisms regulating pests.Building on spatialised entomological and geographic data, we developed a parsimonious reaction–diffusion model describing the population dynamics of beneficial organisms. Parameter estimation was carried out in a Bayesian framework accounting for uncertainty in the measurement.Thousands of agricultural landscapes were generated under agronomic specifications dealt with as constraint satisfaction problems. Population dynamics was simulated on each landscape with the fitted reaction-diffusion model mentioned above, and two metrics of abundances allowed the assessment of the regulation performance of the landscape spatial arrangements. One metric is a mean field performance criterion assessing the regulation performance from the landscape composition only, the other is a spatial performance metric assessing the performance resulting from the whole landscape spatial configuration. The former is computed with a non-spatialised form of the population dynamics model, the latter results from the reaction-diffusion model of the population dynamics. Comparing these metrics enabled to quantify the impact of spatial arrangements, hence allowing arrangements proposals.This framework was applied to the case study of a ground beetle species involved in the biological regulation of weeds. The arrangement proposals abides by the productive agronomic constraint that is the landscape composition, while they allow for significant habitat quality enhancement (or deterioration) for the beneficial organism (or a pest). Minor adaptations of our integrated data-driven approach would suit numerous situations ranging from the provision of enhanced ecosystem services to land management for conservation.     

Assessing occupancy and habitat connectivity for Baird’s tapir to establish conservation priorities in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas,Mexico

Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii) is the largest native mammal that inhabits the Neotropics, and it is enlisted as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. The historic distribution of this species included the area from southern Mexico to northern Colombia. However, its distribution and populations have been reduced drastically during the past 30 years. The main threats for Baird’s tapir are the direct persecution for subsistence hunting, habitat destruction, and habitat fragmentation. In this study, we used camera traps and occupancy models to identify the landscape characteristics that were associated with the occurrence of tapirs in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, which is one of the most important populations of the species in Mexico, with the aim to identify areas with habitat suitability for the species. We used our best occupancy model to generate a resistance matrix to develop a model of habitat connectivity using Circuit Theory. According to the best occupancy model, the most suitable areas for this species were the forested areas located at the highest elevations of the mountain ranges that provided rugged terrain. We identified three critical corridors to allow for the connectivity of tapir populations in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, and one of these corridors provides connectivity between this population and the population in the Ocote Biosphere Reserve. With this approach, we propose a conservation strategy for the species that incorporates a more realistic and detailed scheme of Baird’s tapir occurrence in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas region. Priority actions to conserve tapirs in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas over the long term include ensuring the complete protection of prime habitat for the species, improved connectivity by protecting forest cover, implementation mitigation measures in areas where paved roads interrupt connectivity of populations, and eradicating poaching of the species in the region completely.     

The Speed of Range Shifts in Fragmented Landscapes

Species may be driven extinct by climate change, unless their populations are able to shift fast enough to track regions of suitable climate. Shifting will be faster as the proportion of suitable habitat in the landscape increases. However, it is not known how the spatial arrangement of habitat will affect the speed of range advance, especially when habitat is scarce, as is the case for many specialist species. We develop methods for calculating the speed of advance that are appropriate for highly fragmented, stochastic systems. We reveal that spatial aggregation of habitat tends to reduce the speed of advance throughout a wide range of species parameters: different dispersal distances and dispersal kernel shapes, and high and low extinction probabilities. In contrast, aggregation increases the steady-state proportion of habitat that is occupied (without climate change). Nonetheless, we find that it is possible to achieve both rapid advance and relatively high patch occupancy when the habitat has a “channeled” pattern, resembling corridors or chains of stepping stones. We adapt techniques from electrical circuit theory to predict the rate of advance efficiently for complex, realistic landscape patterns, whereas the rate cannot be predicted by any simple statistic of aggregation or fragmentation. Conservationists are already advocating corridors and stepping stones as important conservation tools under climate change, but they are vaguely defined and have so far lacked a convincing basis in fundamental population biology. Our work shows how to discriminate properties of a landscape''s spatial pattern that affect the speed of colonization (including, but not limited to, patterns like corridors and chains of stepping stones), and properties that affect a species'' probability of persistence once established. We can therefore point the way to better land use planning approaches, which will provide functional habitat linkages and also maintain local population viability.     

Unravelling landscape variables with multiple approaches to overcome scarce species knowledge: a landscape genetic study of the slow worm

Landscape genetics was developed to detect landscape elements shaping genetic population structure, including the effects of fragmentation. Multifarious environmental variables can influence gene flow in different ways and expert knowledge is frequently used to construct friction maps. However, the extent of the migration and the movement of single individuals are frequently unknown, especially for non-model species, and friction maps only based on expert knowledge can be misleading. In this study, we used three different methods: isolation by distance (IBD), least-cost modelling and a strip-based approach to disentangle the human implication in the fragmentation process in the slow worm (Anguis fragilis), as well as the specific landscape elements shaping the genetic structure in a highly anthropized 16 km² area in Switzerland. Friction maps were constructed using expert opinion, but also based on the combination of all possible weightings for all landscape elements. The IBD indicated a significant effect of geographic distance on genetic differentiation. Further approaches demonstrated that highways and railways were the most important elements impeding the gene flow in this area. Surprisingly, we also found that agricultural areas and dense forests seemed to be used as dispersal corridors. These results confirmed that the slow worm has relatively unspecific habitat requirements. Finally, we showed that our models based on expert knowledge performed poorly compared to cautious analysis of each variable. This study demonstrated that landscape genetic analyses should take expert knowledge with caution and exhaustive analyses of each landscape element without a priori knowledge and different methods can be recommended.     

Replacing a Native Wolbachia with a Novel Strain Results in an Increase in Endosymbiont Load and Resistance to Dengue Virus in a Mosquito Vector

Wolbachia is a maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacterium that is estimated to infect up to 65% of insect species. The ability of Wolbachia to both induce pathogen interference and spread into mosquito vector populations makes it possible to develop Wolbachia as a biological control agent for vector-borne disease control. Although Wolbachia induces resistance to dengue virus (DENV), filarial worms, and Plasmodium in mosquitoes, species like Aedes polynesiensis and Aedes albopictus, which carry native Wolbachia infections, are able to transmit dengue and filariasis. In a previous study, the native wPolA in Ae. polynesiensis was replaced with wAlbB from Ae. albopictus, and resulted in the generation of the transinfected “MTB” strain with low susceptibility for filarial worms. In this study, we compare the dynamics of DENV serotype 2 (DENV-2) within the wild type “APM” strain and the MTB strain of Ae. polynesiensis by measuring viral infection in the mosquito whole body, midgut, head, and saliva at different time points post infection. The results show that wAlbB can induce a strong resistance to DENV-2 in the MTB mosquito. Evidence also supports that this resistance is related to a dramatic increase in Wolbachia density in the MTB''s somatic tissues, including the midgut and salivary gland. Our results suggests that replacement of a native Wolbachia with a novel infection could serve as a strategy for developing a Wolbachia-based approach to target naturally infected insects for vector-borne disease control.     

An integrative approach to understanding host–parasitoid population dynamics in real landscapes

Many of our advances regarding the spatial ecology of predators and prey have been attributed to research with insect parasitoids and their hosts. Host–parasitoid systems are ideal for spatial-ecological studies because of the small size of the organisms, the often discrete distribution of their resources, and the relative ease with which host mortality from parasitoids can be determined. We outline an integrated approach to studying host–parasitoid interactions in heterogeneous natural landscapes. This approach involves conducting experiments to obtain critically important information on dispersal and boundary behavior of the host and parasitoid, large-scale manipulations of landscape structure to reveal the impacts of landscape change on host–parasitoid interactions and temporal population dynamics, and the development of spatially realistic, behavior-based landscape models. The dividends from such an integrative approach are far reaching, as is illustrated in our research on the prairie planthopper Prokelisia crocea and its egg parasitoid Anagrus columbi that occurs in the tall-grass prairies of North America. Here, we describe the population structure of this system which is based on a long-term survey of planthoppers and parasitoids among host–plant patches. We also outline novel approaches to experimentally quantify and model the movement and boundary behavior of animals in general. The value of this information is revealed in a landscape-level field experiment that was designed to test predictions about how landscape change affects the spatial and temporal population dynamics of the host and parasitoid. Finally, with these empirical data as the foundation, we describe novel simulation models that are spatially realistic and behavior based. Drawing from this integrated approach and case study, we identify key research questions for the future.     

Landscape metrics as indicators: Quantifying habitat network changes of a bush-cricket Pholidoptera transsylvanica in Hungary

Fragmentation of habitats is a serious problem for many endangered species; a possible solution is the maintenance of landscape connectivity. Due to scarce sources, in managing and planning landscapes exact and quantitative priorities must be set. Application of mathematical tools, such as network analysis, can be useful help in these decisions. We illustrate the possibilities and results of this approach with a case study of endangered Pholidoptera transsylvanica bush-cricket population in the Aggtelek Karst, Northeast-Hungary, which inhabits 39 habitat patches connected with ecological corridors. A key issue in the long-term survival of this metapopulation is the maintenance of gene flow (by preserving the connectivity of the habitat network). We evaluated the landscape graph and our results are compared to earlier ones based on older methods. During the comparison, we used several network indices to set quantitative conservation preferences. In addition, we would like to draw attention to the need for constant monitoring (and possible treatments), because several changes (like secondary succession) have occurred during the years between the two studies, threatening landscape connectivity and long-term survival of certain species. A potential solution for preventing fragmentation is establishing new corridors or improving the existing ones: we estimated the possible effects of these changes. New corridors did not have major effect on the system; maintaining already functioning corridors is more effective.     

Competitive coexistence in a dynamic landscape

This paper investigates the effect of a dynamic landscape on the persistence of many interacting species. We develop a multi-species community model with an evolving landscape in which the creation and destruction of habitat are dynamic and local in space. Species interactions are also local involving hierarchical competitive trade-offs. We show that dynamic landscapes can reverse the trend of increasing species richness with higher fragmentation observed in static landscapes. The increase in the species-area exponent from a homogeneous to a fragmented landscape does not occur when dynamics are turned on. Thus, temporal aspects of the processes that generate and destroy habitat appear dominant relative to spatial characteristics. We also demonstrate, however, that temporal and spatial aspects interact to influence the persistence time of individual species, and therefore, rank-abundance curves. Specifically, persistence in the model increases in habitats with faster local turnover because of the presence of dynamic corridors.     

The effects of large herbivores on the landscape dynamics of a perennial herb

Background and Aims

Models assessing the prospects of plant species at the landscape level often focus primarily on the relationship between species dynamics and landscape structure. However, the short-term prospects of species with slow responses to landscape changes depend on the factors affecting local population dynamics. In this study it is hypothesized that large herbivores may be a major factor affecting the short-term prospects of slow-responding species in the European landscape, because large herbivores have increased in number in this region in recent decades and can strongly influence local population dynamics.

Methods

The impact of browsing by large herbivores was simulated on the landscape-level dynamics of the dry grassland perennial polycarpic herb Scorzonera hispanica. A dynamic, spatially explicit model was used that incorporated information on the location of patches suitable for S. hispanica, local population dynamics (matrices including the impact of large herbivores), initial population sizes and dispersal rate of the species. Simulations were performed relating to the prospects of S. hispanica over the next 30 years under different rates of herbivory (browsing intensity) and varying frequencies of population destruction (e.g. by human activity).

Key Results

Although a high rate of herbivory was detected in most populations of S. hispanica, current landscape-level dynamics of S. hispanica were approximately in equilibrium. A decline or increase of over 20 % in the herbivory rate promoted rapid expansion or decline of S. hispanica, respectively. This effect was much stronger in the presence of population destruction.

Conclusions

Browsing by large herbivores can have a dramatic effect on the landscape dynamics of plant species. Changes in the density of large herbivores and the probability of population destruction should be incorporated into models predicting species abundance and distribution.     

Combining the Sterile Insect Technique with the Incompatible Insect Technique: I-Impact of Wolbachia Infection on the Fitness of Triple- and Double-Infected Strains of Aedes albopictus

The mosquito species Aedes albopictus is a major vector of the human diseases dengue and chikungunya. Due to the lack of efficient and sustainable methods to control this mosquito species, there is an increasing interest in developing and applying the sterile insect technique (SIT) and the incompatible insect technique (IIT), separately or in combination, as population suppression approaches. Ae. albopictus is naturally double-infected with two Wolbachia strains, wAlbA and wAlbB. A new triple Wolbachia-infected strain (i.e., a strain infected with wAlbA, wAlbB, and wPip), known as HC and expressing strong cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) in appropriate matings, was recently developed. In the present study, we compared several fitness traits of three Ae. albopictus strains (triple-infected, double-infected and uninfected), all of which were of the same genetic background (“Guangzhou City, China”) and were reared under the same conditions. Investigation of egg-hatching rate, survival of pupae and adults, sex ratio, duration of larval stages (development time from L₁ to pupation), time to emergence (development time from L₁ to adult emergence), wing length, female fecundity and adult longevity indicated that the presence of Wolbachia had only a minimal effect on host fitness. Based on this evidence, the HC strain is currently under consideration for mass rearing and application in a combined SIT-IIT strategy to control natural populations of Ae. albopictus in mainland China.     

Modeling intra-mosquito dynamics of Zika virus and its dose-dependence confirms the low epidemic potential of Aedes albopictus

Originating from African forests, Zika virus (ZIKV) has now emerged worldwide in urbanized areas, mainly transmitted by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Although Aedes albopictus can transmit ZIKV experimentally and was suspected to be a ZIKV vector in Central Africa, the potential of this species to sustain virus transmission was yet to be uncovered until the end of 2019, when several autochthonous transmissions of the virus vectored by Ae. albopictus occurred in France. Aside from these few locally acquired ZIKV infections, most territories colonized by Ae. albopictus have been spared so far. The risk level of ZIKV emergence in these areas remains however an open question. To assess Ae. albopictus’ vector potential for ZIKV and identify key virus outbreak predictors, we built a complete framework using the complementary combination of (i) dose-dependent experimental Ae. albopictus exposure to ZIKV followed by time-dependent assessment of infection and systemic infection rates, (ii) modeling of intra-human ZIKV viremia dynamics, and (iii) in silico epidemiological simulations using an Agent-Based Model. The highest risk of transmission occurred during the pre-symptomatic stage of the disease, at the peak of viremia. At this dose, mosquito infection probability was estimated to be 20%, and 21 days were required to reach the median systemic infection rates. Mosquito population origin, either temperate or tropical, had no impact on infection rates or intra-host virus dynamic. Despite these unfavorable characteristics for transmission, Ae. albopictus was still able to trigger and yield large outbreaks in a simulated environment in the presence of sufficiently high mosquito biting rates. Our results reveal a low but existing epidemic potential of Ae. albopictus for ZIKV, that might explain the absence of large scale ZIKV epidemics so far in territories occupied only by Ae. albopictus. They nevertheless support active surveillance and eradication programs in these territories to maintain the risk of emergence to a low level.     

Human‐aided and natural dispersal drive gene flow across the range of an invasive mosquito

Human‐aided transport is responsible for many contemporary species introductions, yet the contribution of human‐aided transport to dispersal within non‐native regions is less clear. Understanding dispersal dynamics for invasive species can streamline mitigation efforts by targeting routes that contribute disproportionally to spread. Because of its limited natural dispersal ability, rapid spread of the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has been attributed to human‐aided transport, but until now, the relative roles of human‐aided and natural movement have not been rigorously evaluated. Here, we use landscape genetics and information‐theoretic model selection to evaluate 52 models representing 9240 pairwise dispersal paths among sites across the US range for Ae. albopictus and show that recent gene flow reflects a combination of natural and human‐aided dispersal. Highways and water availability facilitate dispersal at a broad spatial scale, but gene flow is hindered by forests at the current distributional limit (range edge) and by agriculture among sites within the mosquito's native climatic niche (range core). Our results show that highways are important to genetic structure between range‐edge and range‐core pairs, suggesting a role for human‐aided mosquito transport to the range edge. In contrast, natural dispersal is dominant at smaller spatial scales, reflecting a shifting dominance to natural movement two decades after introduction. These conclusions highlight the importance of (i) early intervention for species introductions, particularly those with readily dispersed dormant stages and short generation times, and (ii) strict monitoring of commercial shipments for transported immature stages of Ae. albopictus, particularly towards the northern edge of the US range.     

Landscape Genetic Structure of a Streamside Tree Species Euptelea pleiospermum (Eupteleaceae): Contrasting Roles of River Valley and Mountain Ridge

We used landscape genetics and statistical models to test how landscape features influence connectivity or create barriers to dispersal for a mountain riparian tree species, Euptelea pleiospermum. Young leaves from 1078 individuals belonging to 36 populations at elevations of 900–2000 m along upper reaches of four rivers were genotyped using eight nuclear microsatellite markers. We found no evidence for the unidirectional dispersal hypothesis in E. pleiospermum within each river. The linear dispersal pattern along each river valley is mostly consistent with the “classical metapopulaton” model. Mountain ridges separating rivers were genetic barriers for this wind-pollinated tree species with anemochorous seeds, whereas river valleys provided important corridors for dispersal. Gene flow among populations along elevational gradients within each river prevails over gene flow among populations at similar elevations but from different rivers. This pattern of gene flow is likely to promote elevational range shifts of plant populations and to hinder local adaptation along elevational gradients. This study provides a paradigm to determine which of the two strategies (migration or adaptation) will be adopted by mountain riparian plants under climate warming.     

基于景观遗传学的滇金丝猴栖息地连接度分析

结合景观遗传学,应用最小费用距离模型对物种栖息地进行连接度分析,能够为生物多样性保护和自然保护区管理提供更加真实准确及可实践操作的指导。选取滇金丝猴这一珍稀濒危物种,结合景观遗传学,应用最小费用距离模型对其栖息地进行了连接度和潜在扩散廊道分析。并且通过连接度的分析和制图绘制出了更为准确的种群间潜在扩散廊道,确定了受人工障碍影响的廊道及敏感区域。结果表明,研究区内的5个亚群中,仅S3亚群内的5个猴群保持着较好的连接度,总体来说,各亚群内的连接度相对于各亚群间连接度保持的较好。除S3亚群中猴群间的潜在扩散廊道较为理想外,其余种群间的潜在扩散廊道均受人工斑块的影响,多数廊道被人工障碍阻断,或面临即将被阻断的情况,对于滇金丝猴的扩散交流影响较大。敏感区域多集中在中南部的3个亚群间,这些敏感区域应作为景观恢复及保护区规划的重要优先区域。     

Evidence of Habitat Structuring Aedes albopictus Populations in Réunion Island

Arbovirus vector dynamics and spread are influenced by climatic, environmental and geographic factors. Major Chikungunya and Dengue fever outbreaks occurring the last 10 years have coincided with the expansion of the mosquito vector Aedes albopictus to nearly all the continents. We characterized the ecological (larval development sites, population dynamics, insemination and daily survival rates) and genetic (diversity, gene flow, population structure) features of two Aedes albopictus populations from distinct environments (rural and urban) on Réunion Island, in the South-West Indian Ocean. Microsatellite analysis suggests population sub-structuring Ae. albopictus populations. Two genetic clusters were identified that were significantly linked to natural versus urban habitats with a mixed population in both areas. Ae. albopictus individuals prefer urban areas for mating and immature development, where hosts and containers that serve as larval development sites are readily available and support high population densities, whereas natural environments appear to serve as reservoirs for the mosquito.     

Aedes albopictus bionomics data collection by citizen participation on Procida Island,a promising Mediterranean site for the assessment of innovative and community-based integrated pest management methods

In the last decades, the colonization of Mediterranean Europe and of other temperate regions by Aedes albopictus created an unprecedented nuisance problem in highly infested areas and new public health threats due to the vector competence of the species. The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) and the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) are insecticide-free mosquito-control methods, relying on mass release of irradiated/manipulated males, able to complement existing and only partially effective control tools. The validation of these approaches in the field requires appropriate experimental settings, possibly isolated to avoid mosquito immigration from other infested areas, and preliminary ecological and entomological data. We carried out a 4-year study in the island of Procida (Gulf of Naples, Italy) in strict collaboration with local administrators and citizens to estimate the temporal dynamics, spatial distribution, and population size of Ae. albopictus and the dispersal and survival of irradiated males. We applied ovitrap monitoring, geo-spatial analyses, mark-release-recapture technique, and a citizen-science approach. Results allow to predict the seasonal (from April to October, with peaks of 928–9,757 males/ha) and spatial distribution of the species, highlighting the capacity of Ae. albopictus population of Procida to colonize and maintain high frequencies in urban as well as in sylvatic inhabited environments. Irradiated males shown limited ability to disperse (mean daily distance travelled <60m) and daily survival estimates ranging between 0.80 and 0.95. Overall, the ecological characteristics of the island, the acquired knowledge on Ae. albopictus spatial and temporal distribution, the high human and Ae. albopictus densities and the positive attitude of the resident population in being active parts in innovative mosquito control projects provide the ground for evidence-based planning of the interventions and for the assessment of their effectiveness. In addition, the results highlight the value of creating synergies between research groups, local administrators, and citizens for affordable monitoring (and, in the future, control) of mosquito populations.     

Autochthonous Chikungunya Transmission and Extreme Climate Events in Southern France

BackgroundExtreme precipitation events are increasing as a result of ongoing global warming, but controversy surrounds the relationship between flooding and mosquito-borne diseases. A common view among the scientific community and public health officers is that heavy rainfalls have a flushing effect on breeding sites, which negatively affects vector populations, thereby diminishing disease transmission. During 2014 in Montpellier, France, there were at least 11 autochthonous cases of chikungunya caused by the invasive tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus in the vicinity of an imported case. We show that an extreme rainfall event increased and extended the abundance of the disease vector Ae. albopictus, hence the period of autochthonous transmission of chikungunya.Conclusions/SignificanceOur empirical data suggests that heavy rainfall events did increase the risk of arbovirus transmission in Southern France in 2014 by favouring a rapid rise in abundance of vector mosquitoes. Further studies should now confirm these results in different ecological contexts, so that the impact of global change and extreme climatic events on mosquito population dynamics and the risk of disease transmission can be adequately understood.