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The Effect of Abiotic and Landscape Features on Abundance of Anopheles Larvae

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The Effect of Abiotic and Landscape Features on Abundance of Anopheles Larvae Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences Department of Ecology The effect of abiotic and landscape features on abundance of Anopheles larvae Milda Norkute Master´s thesis • 30 hec • Second cycle, A2E EnvEuro Master Programme Soil, Water and Biodiversty Uppsala 2014 Independent project/Degree project / SLU, Department of Ecology 2014:2 The effect of abiotic and landscape features on abundance of Anopheles larvae Milda Norkute Supervisor: Richard Hopkins, Associate Professor at the Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala Assistant Supervisor: Thomas Frank, Professor at the Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna Olle Terenius, Associate Professor at the Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala Examiner: Brendan McKie, Associate Professor at the Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala Credits: 30 hec Level: Second cycle, A2E Course title: Independent Project in Environmental Science - Master's thesis Course code: EX0431 Programme/education: EnvEuro Master Programme Soil, Water and Biodiversity Place of publication: Uppsala Year of publication: 2014 Cover picture: Milda Norkute Title of series: Independent project/Degree project / SLU, Department of Ecology Number of part of series: 2014:2 Online publication: http://stud.epsilon.slu.se Keywords: Anopheles arabiensis, larvae, density, breeding habitats; dipping; landscape; Ethiopia; Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Faculty of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences Department of Ecology TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................... 1 POPULAR SCIENCE SUMMARY ............................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 4 Reproductive success .................................................................................................................. 4 Oviposition.................................................................................................................................. 5 Survival ....................................................................................................................................... 6 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 7 MATERIALS AND METHODS.................................................................................................... 9 Malaria in Ethiopia...................................................................................................................... 9 Vector control in Ethiopia......................................................................................................... 10 Study Area................................................................................................................................. 11 Mosquito sampling.................................................................................................................... 13 Spec ies identification ................................................................................................................ 13 Larval habitat characterization.................................................................................................. 14 Water physical analysis............................................................................................................. 17 Water chemical analysis............................................................................................................ 17 Data analysis ............................................................................................................................. 17 RESULTS ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Spec ies co mpo s itio n.................................................................................................................. 19 Larval abundance ...................................................................................................................... 19 Larval density............................................................................................................................ 20 HABITAT HETEROGENEITY ............................................................................................... 25 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................... 27 CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................................... 30 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 31 REFFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 32 I TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1. Relationships between larval development and environmental factors on both habitat and ecosystem level. ....................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 2. Distribution and seasonality of malaria in Ethiopia. ....................................................... 9 Figure 3. Map of the study area. Sampling sites are labeled with identification numbers that were assigned in chronological order of each visit................................................................................ 12 Figure 4. A soup ladle used for mosquito sampling. .................................................................... 13 Figure 5. The setup of mosquito rearing. ...................................................................................... 14 Figure 6. Four types of habitats that were identified in the study area ......................................... 15 Figure 7. Different landscapes in the study area. .......................................................................... 16 Figure 8. Relationship between larval density and conductivity. ................................................. 21 Figure 9. Relationship between larval density and the amount of dissolved oxygen. .................. 22 Figure 10. Relationship between larval density and turbidity. ..................................................... 22 Figure 11. Mean densities of early and late instar larvae in different land use areas. .................. 24 Table 1. Water physical parameters recorded in the field............................................................. 17 Table 2. Results from binomial logistic regression.. .................................................................... 20 Table 3. Results from Poisson regression on the densities of different larval stages ................... 20 Table 4. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney test results, comparing median larval densities between categories that describe different habitat characteristics. ............................................... 23 Table 5. Kruskal-Wallis tests applied to compare medians of water physicochemical parameters (WPP) in sites within different land cover categories. ................................................................. 25 Table 6. Kruskal-Wallis tests applied to compare medians of water physicochemical parameters (WPP) in sites within different habitat types. ............................................................................... 26 II ABSTRACT Mosquitoes are medically the most important group of insects, transmitting a number of deadly diseases, includ ing malaria. Female mosquitoes transmit them while feeding on human blood, which is required to mature eggs. It is important to understand vector population dynamics in order to effectively control them. Sampling larval populations is one of the methods to estimate mosquito requirements for site selection for oviposition and survival. Our survey took place from 10th of June to 1st July in the area of village Chano, located in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region in Southern Ethiopia. Mosquito larvae were collected using standard dipping method once a week in three different land cover categories. Water physical parameters were recorded on site and the chemical analysis was performed at the laboratory of The Institute of Health and Nutrition in Addis Ababa. We found Anopheles arabiensis to be the only anopheline species present at the end of the rainy season in the surveyed area. There was no significant association detected between presence of Anopheles mosquito larvae and abiotic and landscape characteristics. However, we found that the density of early instar stages was increasing with increasing conductivity (p=0.01) and dissolved oxygen (p=0.02) and when habitats contained aquatic vegetation. Such habitats were associated with pastures. Late larval instars were positively associated with turbidity (p=0.003) and such habitats were more numerous in the settlement. We conclude that Anopheles arabiensis females were ovipositing more intensively in habitats that were more stable, but the survival in such habitats was lower. We suggest that water quality may be not the main
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