Abundance of urban male mosquitoes by green infrastructure types: implications for landscape design and vector management

Abstract

Context: Urban green space (UGS) is widely espoused in sustainable urban design. Notwithstanding its ecosystem services, UGS is commonly perceived as inadvertent habitats for urban mosquitoes. Moreover, the lack of ecological understanding of mosquitoes and their urban habitats renders vector control in green spaces without reliance on chemical and bio-pesticides especially challenging. Objectives: This study envisages the application of a comparative analytical method for the evaluation and optimization of vector management in different urban spaces. The research examines the extent of male habitat preference as measured by population characteristics of urban adult mosquitoes on green roof and control sites. Methods: Adult mosquito traps were deployed on green roofs (GR), bare roofs (negative control, NC), and low-elevation gardens (positive control, PC). Distribution of male and female members of vector species were analyzed Results: Urban adult male mosquitoes exhibited highly-selective habitat use of the studied urban spaces, in that they were clustered chiefly in PC. Their spatial distributions are consistently explained by site group even under the stringent measure of presence/absence. The sex ratios of GR and NC were highly skewed toward females, which lends further to the interpretation of strong male habitat preference for the studied PC gardens. Conclusions: Urban mosquitoes do not display similar degrees of affinity for different types of green infrastructure. The methodology used can help prioritize urban sites and optimize control strategies. The uses of amenable environmental features salient to mosquito survival in landscape design should be explored as a sustainable and environmentally-friendly vector management approach.