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The extent of United States Great Plains grass agriculture has ebbed and flowed over decades in response to market incentives, government policies, technological innovations and weather patterns. Our thesis is that the land most responsive to these drivers is at the economic margin between grass-based production and cropping. Much of the eastern Dakotas is such an area, primarily under crop-based agriculture although grass remains an important land use. We surveyed land operators in the area on their views about motivators for land use choices. Their views are largely consistent with the economic margin viewpoint. The importance of crop output prices, crop input prices, innovations in cropping equipment and weather patterns on land use decisions grow as one moves north toward the economic margin. Land in more highly sloped areas is more sensitive to crop prices and crop insurance policies. Consistent with human capital theory, older operators are generally less responsive to factors that affect land use. Those renting more land, being more exposed to market forces, are more responsive. As farm size increases, respondents declared higher land use sensitivity to policy issues and technological innovations, suggesting that scale effects render land units more sensitive to land use change drivers.

Aedes japonicus (Diptera: Culicidae), or the Asian rock pool mosquito, is an invasive mosquito in Europe and America. It was first detected outside of Asia in 1990 in Oceania. It has since expanded to North America and Europe in 1998 and 2000, respectively. Even though it is classified as a secondary vector of pathogens, it is competent to several arboviruses and filarial worms, and it is contributing to the transmission of La Crosse virus (LACV) and West Nile virus (WNV). In this study, CDC light, BG-sentinel, and gravid traps were used to collect mosquitoes between June and October 2021, in Wooster, Northeastern Ohio, USA. Morphological identification or/and Sanger sequencing were performed to identify the collected mosquitoes. Our results revealed that (adult) Ae. japonicus mosquitoes were the most abundant mosquito species collected with gravid traps in Wooster in 2021, confirming its establishment in Ohio. Molecular analyses of Ae. japonicus showed 100% nucleotide similarity with Ae. japonicus collected in Iowa (USA) and Canada, suggesting multiple introductions. Its presence may increase the risk of future arbovirus outbreaks in Wooster, Ohio. This study stresses the importance of actively monitoring the density and distribution of all members of the Ae. japonicus complex.

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