An ecological analysis was used to evaluate a set of real-world surveillance data of adult mosquitoes. The analysis was intended to summarize distribution of mosquito populations in various environments and may predict changes in future. Adult mosquito community structure was analyzed based on modified New Jersey light trap collections in Citrus County, Florida. Twenty-eight mosquito species (157,600 individuals) were collected and identified from October 1998 to December 2000. A species dominance index revealed that the seven most dominant species comprised 84% of total individuals. Analysis of population dynamics for several dominant species indicated that three-culicine mosquitoes, Culex quinquefasciatus, Cx. nigripalpus, and Cx. erraticus, exhibited seasonal distribution patterns during 1999 and 2000. The salt marsh mosquitoes, Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus, had a stable seasonal distribution pattern, while seasonal distribution of Oc. infirmatus varied. Two anopheline species, Anopheles crucians and An. Atropos, showed no seasonal distribution patterns. A cluster analysis incorporating over two years of data divided the fourteen New Jersey trap sites into seven basic groups based on mosquito species composition and individual populations. The high aggregation index (0.4975) associated with the Ozello salt marsh site reflected the dominance of salt marsh mosquitoes (Oc. taeniorhynchus), with 66% individuals at that site. The Homosassa site, a mixed salt and freshwater site, had the lowest value of aggregation index (0.1212), with 22% An. crucians as the most dominant species. This site also exhibited the highest diversity index (2.3476), while the Ozello salt marsh site had the lowest diversity index (0.9988).
Species 1: Diptera Culicidae Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (salt marsh mosquitoes)
Species 2: Diptera Culicidae Culex quinquefasciatus
Species 3: Diptera Culicidae Culex nigripalpus
Keywords: community structure, population dynamics
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