Impact of deforestation on the abundance, diversity, and richness of Culex mosquitoes in a southwest Cameroon tropical rainforest

• Published in: Journal of vector ecology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 271 - 281
• Main Authors: Audrey Mayi, Marie Paul, Foncha, David Forfuet, Kowo, Cyril, Tchuinkam, Timoleon, Brisco, Katherine, Anong, Damian Nota, Ravinder, Sehgal, Cornel, Anthony John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society for Vector Ecology 01.12.2019
• Subjects: Cameroon; Climate change; Culex; Culicidae; Deforestation; Dengue fever; Disease transmission; diversity; emerging diseases; Encephalitis; Environmental changes; Habitats; Health risks; Human influences; Human populations; Infectious diseases; Land use; Malaria; Mosquitoes; Oils & fats; Palm oil; Parasites; Pest outbreaks; Plantations; Population growth; Rainforests; Rift valleys; St. Louis encephalitis; Terrestrial ecosystems; Terrestrial environments; Vector-borne diseases; Vectors; Viral diseases; Viruses; Yellow fever; Zoonoses; Cameroon; Deforestation; mosquitoes; emerging diseases; Cameroon; diversity; Culex
• DOI: 10.1111/jvec.12359
• ISSN: 1081-1710

Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity but little data exist on how deforestation in real-time affects the overall mosquito species community despite its known role in the transmission of diseases. We compared the abundance and diversity of Culex mosquitoes before and after deforestation along a gradient of three different anthropogenic disturbance levels in a tropical rainforest in southwestern Cameroon. The collections were conducted in unlogged forest (January, 2016), selectively logged forest (January, 2017), and within a young palm plantation (October, 2017) using net traps, sweep nets, resting traps, and dipping for immature stages in water bodies. Mosquitoes were morphologically identified to subspecies, groups, and species. A total of 2,556 mosquitoes was collected of which 1,663 (65.06%) belong to the genus Culex, (n=427 (25.68%) in the unlogged forest; n=900 (54.12%) in the selectively logged forest; and n=336 (20.2%) in the young palm plantation) with a significant difference among the habitats. Diversity and richness of mosquitoes varied significantly among habitats with the highest values found in the selectively logged forest (H=2.4; DS=0.87; S=33) and the lowest value in the unlogged forest (H=1.37; DS=0.68; S=13). The results of this study showed that deforestation affects the abundance and diversity of Culex mosquitoes and favors the invasion of anthropophilic mosquitoes. Higher mosquito abundance and diversity in the selectively logged forest than in the pristine forest is notable and some explanations for these differences are discussed.