Spatial and Temporal Habitat Segregation of Mosquitoes in Urban Florida
Open Access
- 12 March 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 9 (3), e91655
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091655
Abstract
Understanding mechanisms fostering coexistence between invasive and resident species is important in predicting ecological, economic, or health impacts of invasive species. The non-native mosquitoes Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus have been resident in the southeastern United States for over a century. They coexist at some urban sites with the more recent invasive Aedes albopictus, which is usually superior in interspecific competition. We tested predictions of temporal and spatial habitat segregation that foster coexistence of these resident species with the superior invasive competitor. We measured spatial and temporal patterns of site occupancy and abundance for all three species among standard oviposition traps in metropolitan Tampa, Florida. Consistent with the condition-specific competition hypothesis, A. albopictus and A. aegypti abundances were greater and C. quinquefasciatus abundance was lower late (September) versus early (June) in the rainy season, and the proportional increase of A. albopictus abundance was greater than that of A. aegypti. These results are postulated to result from greater dry-season egg mortality and associated greater rainy-season competitive superiority of larvae of A. albopictus, followed by A. aegypti, and C. quinquefasciatus. Spatial partitioning among landscape variables was also evident among species, with A. albopictus more likely to oviposit across a range of open grass landscapes whereas A. aegypti were mostly restricted to cemeteries. Culex quinquefasciatus showed a shift in abundance from cemeteries early in the rainy season to developed areas characterized by built environments with large proportions of impervious surfaces late in the rainy season, where A. albopictus was not in its highest abundance. These results suggest that both temporal and spatial variation, and their interaction, may contribute to local coexistence between Aedes and Culex mosquito species in urban areas.Keywords
This publication has 57 references indexed in Scilit:
- Competitive Abilities in Experimental Microcosms Are Accurately Predicted by a Demographic Index for R*PLOS ONE, 2012
- Seasonal variation in competition and coexistence of Aedes mosquitoes: stabilizing effects of egg mortality or equalizing effects of resources?Journal of Animal Ecology, 2012
- Distributions of Competing Container Mosquitoes Depend on Detritus Types, Nutrient Ratios, and Food AvailabilityAnnals of the Entomological Society of America, 2011
- Coexistence, Exclusion, or Neutrality? A Meta-Analysis of Competition between Aedes Albopictus and Resident MosquitoesIsrael Journal of Ecology and Evolution, 2010
- Spatial and temporal patterns of coexistence between competing Aedes mosquitoes in urban FloridaOecologia, 2009
- Species Interactions Among Larval Mosquitoes: Context Dependence Across Habitat GradientsAnnual Review of Entomology, 2009
- Bayesian Measures of Model Complexity and FitJournal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B: Statistical Methodology, 2002
- First Isolation of La Crosse Virus from Naturally InfectedAedes albopictusEmerging Infectious Diseases, 2001
- Patch Dynamics and Metapopulation Theory: the Case of Successional SpeciesJournal of Theoretical Biology, 2001
- Mechanisms of Maintenance of Species DiversityAnnual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 2000