Effect of desiccation on mosquito oviposition site selection in Mediterranean temporary habitats

Duchet, Claire, Mukherjee, Shomen, Stein, Meital, Spencer, Matthew and Blaustein, Leon (2020) Effect of desiccation on mosquito oviposition site selection in Mediterranean temporary habitats. ECOLOGICAL ENTOMOLOGY, 45 (3). pp. 498-513.

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Abstract

<jats:p>1. Hydroperiod duration has been identified as the main factor determining the faunal composition and structure of aquatic communities in temporary habitats. It is hypothesised that desiccation will positively affect mosquito oviposition habitat selection during the post‐drought period due to the lack of antagonists.</jats:p><jats:p>2. An experiment was carried out in outdoor mesocosms to assess whether desiccation events have post‐drought effects on community richness and mosquito oviposition.</jats:p><jats:p>Three different treatments were randomly assigned to the mesocosms: (i) eight mesocosms were left dried for a week and then reflooded; (ii) eight mesocosms stayed dry for 4 weeks before they were reflooded; (iii) eight mesocosms were maintained at a constant water volume of 30 litres during the entire experiment as controls. Mosquito oviposition and invertebrate community richness were monitored in every mesocosm, along with environmental parameters [water temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids (TSS) and chlorophyll <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> concentration].</jats:p><jats:p>3. Post‐drought mosquito oviposition and larval abundance were higher in the short‐drought and long‐drought pools than in the control. Desiccation negatively affected the biomass of the filter feeder invertebrates in both desiccation treatments. Chlorophyll <jats:italic>a</jats:italic> concentrations were higher in the long‐drought pools than in controls. The negative impact of desiccation on zooplankton led to a post‐drought increase in algae, associated with an increase in mosquito oviposition.</jats:p><jats:p>4. Despite immediate negative effect on mosquitoes, pulsed disturbances can benefit mosquitoes as they favour oviposition during the post‐disturbance recovery period due to a lower abundance of mosquito antagonists and higher food resources for their offspring.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Community interactions, drought disturbance, ephemeral pools, mosquito dynamics, oviposition habitat selection
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2019 08:46
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2023 00:10
DOI:	10.1111/een.12821
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3059903