Experimental Diking for Control of Sand Fly and Mosquito Breeding in Florida Salt-Water Marshes

Walton

Wolfe

et al. 2012

IJERPH

Wetlands are valuable habitats that provide important social, economic, and ecological services such as flood control, water quality improvement, carbon sequestration, pollutant removal, and primary/secondary production export to terrestrial and aquatic food chains. There is disagreement about the need for mosquito control in wetlands and about the techniques utilized for mosquito abatement and their impacts upon wetlands ecosystems. Mosquito control in wetlands is a complex issue influenced by numerous factors, including many hard to quantify elements such as human perceptions, cultural predispositions, and political climate. In spite of considerable progress during the last decades, habitat protection and environmentally sound habitat management still remain inextricably tied to politics and economics. Furthermore, the connections are often complex, and occur at several levels, ranging from local businesses and politicians, to national governments and multinational institutions. Education is the key to lasting wetlands conservation. Integrated mosquito abatement strategies incorporate many approaches and practicable options, as described herein, and need to be well-defined, effective, and ecologically and economically sound for the wetland type and for the mosquito species of concern. The approach will certainly differ in response to disease outbreaks caused by mosquito-vectored pathogens versus quality of life issues caused by nuisance-biting mosquitoes. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the ecological setting and context for mosquito control in wetlands, present pertinent information on wetlands mosquitoes, review the mosquito abatement options available for current wetlands managers and mosquito control professionals, and outline some necessary considerations when devising mosquito control strategies. Although the emphasis is on North American wetlands, most of the material is applicable to wetlands everywhere.

Section: Long-lasting Wetlands Modifications For Mosquito Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

North American Wetlands and Mosquito Control

Walton

Wolfe

et al. 2012

IJERPH

“…En los 1930s, un experimento demostró que el embalse de las marismas pudiera ser una técnica efectiva para el control de estos mosquitos (Hull & Dove 1939). Sin embargo, el experimento fue terminado debido a pérdidas excesivas de agua a través del dique y por evaporación.…”

Section: Historiaunclassified

Embalses Costeros Para el Control de los Mosquitos

Connelly

2012

EDIS

Los embalses costeros utilizados en Florida para el control de los mosquitos son marismas o manglares con un dique periférico que permite inundar el área durante la temporada de cría de mosquitos. Desde entonces, investigaciones científicas han demostrado que el embalsamiento puede causar serios impactos ambientales en las marismas, manglares y esteros colindantes. Hoy en día, se ha devuelto una hidrología más natural a más de 1,300 ha de marismas y manglares embalsados y se han eliminado más de 70 km de diques. De las 16,185 ha originales de marismas embalsadas en la laguna Indian River, se han restaurado de alguna manera más de 12,600 ha, ya sea por reconexión, brechas en los diques, o restauración de las orillas. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Jorge R. Rey and C. Roxanne Connelly, and published by the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, June 2012.

Rehabilitation of impounded estuarine wetlands by hydrologic reconnection to the Indian River Lagoon, Florida (USA)

Brockmeyer

Virnstein

et al. 1996

Wetlands Ecol Manage

100

Salt marshes of the Indian River Lagoon, Florida (USA) were once p.'olif]c producers of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes lay their eggs on the infrequently-flooded high marsh surface when the soil surface is exposed. The eggs hatch when the high marsh is flooded by the inflequent high tides or summer rains. To control mosquito production, most of the salt marshes (over 16,200 ha) were impounded by the early 1970s. Flooding, usually by pumping water from the Lagoon, effectively controlled mosquitoes.However, impounding had a profoundly negative impact on the wetland plant, fish, and invertebrate communities. Isolation fiom the Lagoon cut off aquatic access by transient estuarine species that used the wetlands for feeding or as nursery area. In one study, the number of fish species dropped fl'om 16 to 5 alter impounding Wetland vegetation within some impoundments was totally eliminated: other impoundments developed into freshwater systems.When tidal exchange is restored through hydrologic connection, usually by culverts installed through the perimeter dike, recovery to more natural conditions is often rapid. In one impoundment where wetland vegetation was totally eliminated, recovery of salt-tolerant plants began ahnost immediately. In another, cover of salt-tolerant plants increased 1,056% in less than 3 years. Fisheries species that benefitted the most were snook, ladyfish, and striped intlllet. Over 1,500 juvenile snook were captured in a single 3-hr flood-tide culvert trap as they attempted to migrate into an impoundment. The zooplankton community rapidly returned to the more typical marsh-Lagoon community. Water quality and sediment sulfides returned to typical marsh values. Overall, reconnection enhances natural productivity and diversity, although water quality in the perimeter ditch, an artifact of dike construction, remains problematic.Earlier experiments demonstrated that flooding only during the summer mosquito breeding season provided as effective mosquito control as year-round flooding. In standard management, the impoundment is flooded in summer, then left open to the Lagoon through culverts the rest of" the year. Culverts are typically opened when the thll sea level rise first floods the high marsh. Impoundment reconnection is being implemented by a multi-agency partnership. The total reconnected area is expected to reach 9,454 ha by the end of 1998, representing 60% of the impounded wetlands in the entire IRk system. One stumbling block is private ownership of many of the remaining isolated impoundments.-" Uni\ersity of Florida, IFAS. Journal Series No. R-05201. ; Itarbor Branch Contribution Number II52. 94 VOLUSIA t IR ~Mkk Merritt r Island ! i. BR Impounded Wetlands in the Indian River Lagoon 9 Impoundments _ land Water KILOMETERS 0 6.43 12.8