Targeted mosquito control is needed to limit the spread of vector borne pathogens, but efforts must be balanced between protecting public health and limiting environmental harm. This dissertation addresses these needs from two directions: 1) Studying the impacts of mosquito adulticides on nontarget insects and 2) advanced joint-species distribution models of mosquitoes to target control efforts. We conducted two multi-year studies of nontarget effects: one on general insect abundance and diversity in Seminole County, FL, and another investigating wild bees in Manatee County, FL. Both studies found no impacts on insect or bee diversity overall but provided recommendations for at-risk groups of night-flying Lepidoptera and leafcutter bees (Megachile) respectively. Mosquito distribution modeling efforts used 12 years of data from Manatee and Hillsborough counties, representing ~35,000 individual samples at 249 sites. We used a hierarchical model of species communities (HMSC) to jointly model distributions of the 25 species which made up >99% of observed diversity and were most relevant to mosquito control. Models of occurrence and abundance had high explanatory and predictive power and identified species associations. Mosquito species richness was negatively correlated with urban areas. Additionally, we provided detailed insights for six focal species and showed distinct niches observable at the local scale. Model predictions provided detailed recommendations for mosquito control programs to better target interventions in a growing metropolitan area.
Jacob Hart
Dr. David Jenkins, Advisor
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