BayCEER Workshop 2022

Composition of mosquito species in a Mediterranean wetland: modeling the effects of species interactions and environmental parameters

O 3.4 in Afternoon Session

13.10.2022, 14:45-15:00, H 36

Recently, there have been frequent West Nile virus outbreaks in southern Spain, a region with important wetlands and biodiversity, including vector mosquitoes. We analyzed the role of species interactions and environmental parameters affecting mosquito species composition in a Mediterranean wetland in the Donana natural space.

We applied a Joint Species Distribution Model JSDM, specifically the Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities approach to simultaneously model the effects of different landscape types, normalized difference vegetation index, hydroperiods, distance to river, land surface temperature, and the abundance of seven mosquito species. We created models with varied parameters. We evaluated the effect of selected abiotic parameters and species-to-species association, which served as a proxy for species interactions.

Our model estimated the response of the mosquito community to environmental parameters, and the responses differ for each species. Hydroperiods, distance to river, and landscape types were the most important environmental parameters influencing the variation in the abundance of mosquitoes. The result signified a favorable association within the Culex community in the wetland to potential biotic interactions. The Culex species estimated to be interacting are all potential vectors of West Nile virus. However, Ochlerotatus caspius, Ochlerotatus detritus, and Anopheles atroparvus have no statistical-supported association with the other species after accounting for the effect of environmental parameters. The potential biotic interactions among the mosquito species could also be shaped by missing covariates not included in the model.

JSDM approach supports the identification of the direction of biotic interactions and allows the spatial projection of mosquito abundance, an important parameter for epidemiological models. Moving forward, including predators or species that are blood meals would enhance the ability to project abundance in the mosquito community.

Keywords: mosquito community, species to species associations, landscapes, wetland, environmental parameters, joint species distribution model.

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