The effects of progressive land use changes on the distribution, abundance and behavior of vector mosquitoes in Sabah, Malaysia

The objectives of this study were:1) To investigate the effects of progressive land use change from pre-development forest, through forest clearing and cultivation to plantation maintenance on occurrence of vector mosquitoes. 2) To determine the status of Anopheles donaldi as a vector of malaria in changing land uses. 3) To study the seasonality, abundance and behaviour of vector mosquitoes in study areas. Methods Study sites: Study areas were located at The SAFE Project field site: 1. areas between Maliau Basin Conservation Area (old growth site), 2. logged forest sites in the Benta Wawasan area (area undergoing clearing), 3. oil palm plantation sites in Benta Wawasan’s Silangan Batu Estate (oil palm site) Mosquito collection Mosquito samplings (adults and immature stages) were taken at all 3 study areas every alternate month from January 2017 until December 2018. Every sampling month, 2 collectors (n=2) spent 1 night at each study area where all-night human landing collection were carried out at 3 different sampling points for each collector. Collectors performed outdoor landing catches from 18:00 to 06:00. They collected mosquitoes that landed on naked legs with aspirators. Collectors were given prophylaxis prior to the sampling activities. Collected mosquitoes were then placed at hourly intervals inside glass vials. Mosquitoes were morphologically identified using available dichotomous keys the following morning. In every sampling period, meteorological data such as air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure and wind speed was recorded on hourly basis using a handheld weather station.

Authors

• Jebrail, Evyen Wevan — Universiti Malaysia Sabah
• Dahwood, Mahadi — Universiti Malaysia Sabah
• Fikri, Arman Hadi — Universiti Malaysia Sabah
• Yahya, Bakhtiar — Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Keywords

• Mosquitos
• Vector
• SAFE projects
• land-use

Funders

• Universiti Malaysia Sabah

Permits

• Research — Sabah Biodiversity Centre (SaBC) (Local)

Worksheets

Files

• Evyen_Mosquito_data.xlsx

Taxa

15 GBIF taxa, 0 sequence-derived taxa.