Potential Effects of Climate Change on Ecological Interaction Outcomes Between Two Disease-Vector Mosquitoes: A Mesocosm Experimental Study.
The objective of this study was to experimentally assess the effects of different climate change scenarios on the outcomes of interactions between Aedes aegypti (L.) and Culex quinquefasciatus (Say) (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae. The experimental design maintained a constant density of specimens while the proportion of the species in different experimental climate change scenarios varied. Our results indicate that survival of the two species was not affected, but larval development and pupation times decreased under elevated atmospheric CO(2) concentration and high air temperature. In climate change scenarios with both species together, the survival of Ae. aegypti increased and its larval development time decreased with increasing density of Cx. quinquefasciatus. This may be attributed to the effects of intraspecific competition being more significant than interspecific competition in Ae. aegypti. Our study also reveals that climatic changes may affect the patterns of interactions between Cx. quinquefasciatus and Ae. aegypti. Alterations in climatic conditions changed the response of context-dependent competition, indicating the importance of studies on how ecological interactions will be affected by projected future climatic change.
Laboratório de Ecologia, CCBS, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS, Campo Grande, MS 79070-900, Brazil.
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Leonel
Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, CCBS, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS, Campo Grande, MS 79070-900, Brazil.
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Koroiva
Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Manaus, AM 69067-375, Brazil.
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Hamada
Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - INPA, Manaus, AM 69067-375, Brazil.
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Ferreira-Keppler
Laboratório de Ecologia, CCBS, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS, Campo Grande, MS 79070-900, Brazil. roque.eco@gmail.com.
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Roque
D000330:Aedes / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001103:Arboviruses / Q000502:physiology; D057231:Climate Change; D003465:Culex / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D008136:Longevity; D013045:Species Specificity
Aedes aegypti; Culex quinquefasciatus; global warming; interspecific competition; intraspecific competition