Environmental and social drivers of mosquito abundance and species distribution across land cover types

At the landscape scale, land use, land cover and human behavior (e.g., management of water containers) drive mosquito abundance and species distribution, affecting risk of human exposure to mosquito-borne disease. This interaction between ecological and social risk factors in the Northeast US remains understudied, even as cases of mosquito-borne disease rise. The goal of this research is to assess environmental and human behavioral dimensions of mosquito distribution and human exposure risk to mosquitoes at 40 sites across an urban to rural gradient in Bangor, ME, an emerging area of mosquito-borne disease transmission. Thirty property-owner participants were recruited from urban residential, low-density residential and rural residential zoning categories. Additional forested field sites were selected from wooded city forests commonly visited by local residents. To describe mosquito distribution across the urban to rural gradient, we will trap adult mosquitoes using gravid and light traps and identify juvenile mosquito habitat at participant properties and city forests from June – August 2021. To understand human knowledge driving behaviors surrounding mosquitoes, property-owner participants will complete a Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices survey. We expect that mosquito species distribution will vary across the gradient, with higher abundance of potential disease vector species at urban residential properties. We expect a relationship between property-owner knowledge and behaviors surrounding mosquitoes and the abundance of mosquitoes they are exposed to. Through integration of ecological and human dimensions of mosquito exposure risk, we will define disease risk across the gradient and inform public health education efforts.