Life-table studies revealed significant effects of deforestation on the development and survivorship of Anopheles minimus larvae.
Many developing countries are experiencing rapid ecological changes such as deforestation and shifting agricultural practices. These environmental changes may have an important consequence on malaria due to their impact on vector survival and reproduction. Despite intensive deforestation and malaria transmission in the China-Myanmar border area, the impact of deforestation on malaria vectors in the border area is unknown.



We conducted life table studies on Anopheles minimus larvae to determine the pupation rate and development time in microcosms under deforested, banana plantation, and forested environments.



The pupation rate of An. minimus was 3.8 % in the forested environment. It was significantly increased to 12.5 % in banana plantations and to 52.5 % in the deforested area. Deforestation reduced larval-to-pupal development time by 1.9-3.3 days. Food supplementation to aquatic habitats in forested environments and banana plantations significantly increased larval survival rate to a similar level as in the deforested environment.



Deforestation enhanced the survival and development of An. minimus larvae, a major malaria vector in the China-Myanmar border area. Experimental determination of the life table parameters on mosquito larvae under a variety of environmental conditions is valuable to model malaria transmission dynamics and impact by climate and environmental changes.
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China.|Program in Public Health, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
Xiaoming
X
Wang
Program in Public Health, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
Guofa
G
Zhou
Program in Public Health, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.
Daibin
D
Zhong
National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, 200025, China.
Xiaoling
X
Wang
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
Ying
Y
Wang
Department of Pathogen Biology, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650500, China.
Zhaoqing
Z
Yang
Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
Liwang
L
Cui
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, China. guiyuny@uci.edu.|Program in Public Health, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA. guiyuny@uci.edu.
Guiyun
G
Yan
D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D065928:Forests; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D015993:Life Tables; D008288:Malaria / Q000635:transmission; D013696:Temperature
Anopheles minimus; Deforestation; Larvae; Life table; Malaria; Mosquito