North American Wetlands and Mosquito Control

Abstract

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.

Integrated Mosquito Management in Experimental Constructed Wetlands: Efficacy of Small-Stature Macrophytes and Fluctuating Hydroperiod

“…Large macrophytes require thinning if water quality performance declines or if mosquito production reaches problematic levels [6,[41][42][43]. Drying the wetland is necessary if heavy equipment is used to knock down and move dried vegetation.…”

Mapping eastern equine encephalitis virus risk for white-tailed deer in Michigan

“…These habitats support primary and bridge vector species (Snow, 1955; Rey, et al, 2012), as well as avian hosts (Estep et al, 2011; Molaei et al, 2013). White-tailed deer in Michigan also heavily utilize lowland forests during spring and summer (Hiller et al, 2009), which coincides with peaks in EEEV transmission.…”

A call to arms: Setting the framework for a code of practice for mosquito management in European wetlands

“…A range of activities that contribute to the overall management of mosquitoes such as water drainage, chemical pesticide applications, planting of non‐native trees and releases of non‐native biocontrol agents have the potential to have adverse impacts on the environment and non‐target organisms (Pescott et al, 2018). Knowledge about the role of wetland ecology and biodiversity in regulating wetland mosquito populations is often lacking from mosquito control programmes (Dale & Knight, 2008; Rey et al, 2012). In turn, wetland creation, conservation or restoration projects often ignore possible impacts posed by mosquito population dynamics, mosquito‐borne pathogens, nor do they always include mosquito management plans (Willott, 2004).…”