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Description

Mosquitoes play an important role in wetland ecosystems. Their larvae feed on algae and plankton, and also provide a valuable food source for migrating bird species. However, adult mosquitoes can be a public health concern due to their possible transmittance of vector-borne diseases. The importance of protecting both the ecosystems used by mosquitoes and public health has prompted the monitoring of mosquito populations in the BallonaWetlands. This research aims to investigate and understand how the freshwater marsh supports the early life history stages of mosquitoes, and what role the BallonaWetlands play in mosquito population dynamics in west Los Angeles. The work presented here is the first phase: a pilot study that tests the utility of field-based surface water sampling methods to quantify the abundance and diversity of mosquito larvae in the freshwater marsh. This experimental study will provide temporal data of the appearance of mosquitoes in the wetlands, report population abundances of mosquito larvae, pupae and eggs, and discern the specific locations that contain the highest densities of mosquitoes.

Publication Date

2018

Monitoring Mosquito Larvae Population Density in the Ballona Wetlands Freshwater Marsh

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