Comunidades de mosquitos em gradientes de uso da terra na Amazônia e no Cerrado

Abstract

Changes from natural landscapes to anthropogenic landscapes have caused negative effects on species biodiversity, imbalance between vectors, pathogens and their hosts, leading to a significant increase in the number of some species of mosquitoes, mainly anthropophilic. Our knowledge is still limited to identifying the levels of transformation that generate critical changes in the ecological system, whether the mosquito communities change gradually or whether the changes are drastic and sudden. Perhaps the most important of these predictors is the total amount of native vegetation remaining. In addition, environmental changes play an important role in the emergence of new habitats for various species of vector mosquitoes. Most studies on mosquitoes detect the effect of forest cover on mosquito biodiversity, in addition, environmental variables are being related to the presence of species in natural and altered areas (e.g. rainfall, humidity, temperature, water quality of larval habitat). In this study, in the three chapters we seek to: (1) characterize the larval habitat of Anopheles and identify limnological variables associated with the presence of species; (2) evaluate how the loss of forest can directly and indirectly affect anopheline assemblies in both seasons; (3) to identify the effect of loss of native vegetation along a gradient of forest cover on the richness and abundance of vector and non-vector mosquitoes, and to identify thresholds for each species. In the first and second chapter, collections of immatures were carried out in several larval habitats of Anopheles in the peri-urban area of the city of Manaus - AM, and the third chapter we collected the Culicidae community along a gradient of forest cover in an area of Cerrado in the Bodoquena Plateau - MS. We used canonical correlation analysis to verify the relationship between limnological variables and the anopheline larval presence. In addition, we use structural equation modeling to investigate the effects of forest cover on the water quality of habitats and on the larval 2 anopheline assemblage in different seasons. For adult mosquitoes, we selected linear and non-linear models to assess the response of mosquito richness and abundance to forest loss. In summary, we found strong evidence that anopheline larvae are affected by the water quality of the habitat and that limnological variables play an important role in the presence of certain species. In addition, the forest plays an important role in these habitats, directly and indirectly affecting the anopheline assemblage in habitats in the dry and rainy season. On the other hand, in the terrestrial environment, mosquitoes are influenced by forest cover, with an increase in total abundance. However, vector species are benefited by the decrease in forest cover and the reverse is observed for non-vector species.