School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
Ecohealth. 2012 Jun;9(2):183-94. doi: 10.1007/s10393-012-0759-5. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
Darwin, in the tropical north of Australia, is subject to high numbers of mosquitoes and several mosquito-borne diseases. Many of Darwin's residential areas were built in close proximity to tidally influenced swamps, where long-term storm-water run-off from nearby residences into these swamps has led to anthropogenic induced ecological change. When natural wet-dry cycles were disrupted, bare mud-flats and mangroves were transformed into perennial fresh to brackish-water reed swamps. Reed swamps provided year-round breeding habitat for many mosquito species, such that mosquito abundance was less predictable and seasonally dependent, but constant and often occurring in plague proportions. Drainage channels were constructed throughout the wetlands to reduce pooled water during dry-season months. This study assesses the impact of drainage interventions on vegetation and mosquito ecology in three salt-marshes in the Darwin area. Findings revealed a universal decline in dry-season mosquito abundance in each wetland system. However, some mosquito species increased in abundance during wet-season months. Due to the high expense and potentially detrimental environmental impacts of ecosystem and non-target species disturbance, large-scale modifications such as these are sparingly undertaken. However, our results indicate that some large scale environmental modification can assist the process of wetland restoration, as appears to be the case for these salt marsh systems. Drainage in all three systems has been restored to closer to their original salt-marsh ecosystems, while reducing mosquito abundances, thereby potentially lowering the risk of vector-borne disease transmission and mosquito pest biting problems.
达尔文位于澳大利亚北部热带地区，蚊虫数量众多，存在多种由蚊虫传播的疾病。达尔文的许多住宅区都建在潮汐影响的沼泽附近，附近居民的长期雨水径流流入这些沼泽，导致人为引发生态变化。当自然干湿循环被打乱时，裸露的泥滩和红树林变成了常年淡水到微咸水的芦苇沼泽。芦苇沼泽为许多蚊子物种提供了全年的繁殖栖息地，因此蚊子的数量变得不可预测且季节性依赖，但却持续存在且常常达到瘟疫的程度。在湿地中建造了排水渠道，以减少旱季月份积水。本研究评估了排水干预对达尔文地区三个盐沼的植被和蚊子生态的影响。研究结果显示，每个湿地系统旱季蚊子数量普遍减少。然而，一些蚊子物种在湿季月份数量增加。由于生态系统和非目标物种干扰的高成本和潜在的有害环境影响，这种大规模的改造很少进行。然而，我们的结果表明，一些大规模的环境改造可以帮助湿地恢复，就像这些盐沼系统的情况一样。所有三个系统的排水都已恢复到更接近原始盐沼生态系统的状态，同时降低了蚊子数量，从而降低了媒介传播疾病的风险和蚊子害虫叮咬问题的风险。
