Carver Scott, Spafford Helen, Storey Andrew, Weinstein Philip
School of Animal Biology (M085), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Western Australia, Australia.
Environ Entomol. 2009 Dec;38(6):1585-94. doi: 10.1603/022.038.0609.
Environmental disturbance may have direct and indirect impacts on organisms. We studied the colonization of ephemeral water bodies by mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Wheatbelt region of southwest Western Australia, an area substantially affected by an expanding anthropogenic salinization. Mosquitoes frequently colonized ephemeral water bodies, responded positively to rainfall, and populated smaller water bodies more densely than larger water bodies. We found that the habitat characteristics of ephemeral water bodies changed in association with salinity. Consequently relationships between salinity and abundance of colonizing mosquitoes were direct (salinity-mosquito) and indirect (salinity-water body characteristics-mosquito). Overall, the structure of mosquito assemblages changed with increasing salinity, favoring an increased regional distribution and abundance of Aedes camptorhynchus Thomson (Diptera: Culicidae), a vector of Ross river virus (RRV; Togoviridae: Alphavirus). We conclude secondary salinization in the Western Australia Wheatbelt results in enhanced vectorial potential for RRV transmission.
环境干扰可能对生物产生直接和间接影响。我们研究了西澳大利亚州西南部小麦带地区临时性水体中蚊子（双翅目：蚊科）的定殖情况，该地区受到不断扩大的人为盐渍化的严重影响。蚊子经常在临时性水体中定殖，对降雨有积极反应，并且在较小水体中的种群密度高于较大水体。我们发现临时性水体的栖息地特征随盐度而变化。因此，盐度与定殖蚊子数量之间的关系是直接的（盐度 - 蚊子）和间接的（盐度 - 水体特征 - 蚊子）。总体而言，蚊子群落结构随盐度增加而变化，有利于罗斯河病毒（RRV；披膜病毒科：甲病毒属）的传播媒介——弯喙伊蚊（双翅目：蚊科）在区域内分布增加和数量增多。我们得出结论，西澳大利亚小麦带的次生盐渍化导致RRV传播的媒介潜力增强。
