title: Environmentally Dependent Density-Distance Relationship of Dispersing Culex tarsalis in a Southern California Desert Region.
abstract: The direct inclusion of environmental factors into the empirical model that describes a density-distance relationship (DDR) is demonstrated on dispersal data obtained in a capture-mark-release-recapture experiment (CMRR) with Culex tarsalis conducted around the community of Mecca, CA. Empirical parameters of standard (environmentally independent) DDR were expressed as linear functions of environmental variables: relative orientation (azimuthal deviation of north) of release point (relative to recapture point) and proportions of habitat types surrounding each recapture point. The yielded regression model (R(2)  =  0.5373, after optimization on the best subset of linear terms) suggests that spatial density of recaptured individuals after 12 days of a CMRR experiment significantly depended on 1) distance from release point, 2) orientation of recapture points in relation to release point (preferring dispersal toward the south, probably due to wind drift and position of periodically flooded habitats suitable for species egg clutches), and 3) habitat spectrum in surroundings of recapture points (increasing and decreasing population density in desert and urban environment, respectively).
authors.affiliation: 1  Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Biology, Cara Hadrijana 8a, 31000 Osijek, Croatia.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Antonić
authors.forename: Mirta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sudarić-Bogojević
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lothrop
authors.forename: Enrih
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Merdić
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D002140:California; D003465:Culex / Q000502:physiology*; D003889:Desert Climate; D005260:Female; D011156:Population Density
keywords: General linear modelling; habitat type; mosquito dispersal; recapture point direction