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5 November 2019 Impact of deforestation on the abundance, diversity, and richness of Culex mosquitoes in a southwest Cameroon tropical rainforest
Marie Paul Audrey Mayi, David Forfuet Foncha, Cyril Kowo, Timoleon Tchuinkam, Katherine Brisco, Damian Nota Anong, Sehgal Ravinder, Anthony John Cornel
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Abstract

Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity but little data exist on how deforestation in real-time affects the overall mosquito species community despite its known role in the transmission of diseases. We compared the abundance and diversity of Culex mosquitoes before and after deforestation along a gradient of three different anthropogenic disturbance levels in a tropical rainforest in southwestern Cameroon. The collections were conducted in unlogged forest (January, 2016), selectively logged forest (January, 2017), and within a young palm plantation (October, 2017) using net traps, sweep nets, resting traps, and dipping for immature stages in water bodies. Mosquitoes were morphologically identified to subspecies, groups, and species. A total of 2,556 mosquitoes was collected of which 1,663 (65.06%) belong to the genus Culex, (n=427 (25.68%) in the unlogged forest; n=900 (54.12%) in the selectively logged forest; and n=336 (20.2%) in the young palm plantation) with a significant difference among the habitats. Diversity and richness of mosquitoes varied significantly among habitats with the highest values found in the selectively logged forest (H=2.4; DS=0.87; S=33) and the lowest value in the unlogged forest (H=1.37; DS=0.68; S=13). The results of this study showed that deforestation affects the abundance and diversity of Culex mosquitoes and favors the invasion of anthropophilic mosquitoes. Higher mosquito abundance and diversity in the selectively logged forest than in the pristine forest is notable and some explanations for these differences are discussed.

Marie Paul Audrey Mayi, David Forfuet Foncha, Cyril Kowo, Timoleon Tchuinkam, Katherine Brisco, Damian Nota Anong, Sehgal Ravinder, and Anthony John Cornel "Impact of deforestation on the abundance, diversity, and richness of Culex mosquitoes in a southwest Cameroon tropical rainforest," Journal of Vector Ecology 44(2), 271-281, (5 November 2019). https://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12359
Received: 22 July 2019; Accepted: 1 October 2019; Published: 5 November 2019
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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KEYWORDS
Cameroon
Culex
deforestation
diversity
emerging diseases
mosquitoes
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