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Lower abundance of flood water mosquito larvae in managed wet meadows in the lower Dalälven floodplains, Sweden

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Abstract

To investigate the effect of vegetation management on mosquito abundance on the floodplains of the River Dalälven, central Sweden, we studied abundance of floodwater mosquito larvae (mainly Aedes sticticus) using a paired design, comparing flooded wet meadows that were mowed or grazed by cattle to those that were unmanaged. Two floods occurred during the study year (2012), the first in conjunction with the spring flood in May and the second after heavy rainfall in July. We used the standard mosquito dipper to estimate mosquito larval abundance along transects from the shore towards permanent water on each meadow. The number of mosquito larvae was on average lower in each managed wet meadow compared to the corresponding unmanaged meadow, both in May (71 % reduction, SD = 28 %) and in July (35 % reduction, SD = 79 %). However, there was substantial variation in the difference between managed and unmanaged meadows among pairs. We measured water depth, temperature, estimated proportion of open water surface, soil nutrient levels and micro-topology. Some of the variation in larval abundance could be explained by differences in local conditions. Mosquito larval abundance increased with nutrient levels and occurrence of tussocks, and decreased with water depth and percentage open water surface, especially among unmanaged wetlands. This study suggests that mowing or grazing may reduce the abundance of floodwater mosquito larvae in flooded wet meadows. In addition, vegetation management seem to have the greatest effect on mosquito larval abundance in nutrient-rich wet meadows where tussocks are abundant.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financed by the four County Administrative Boards around the lower River Dalälven, Dalarna, Gävleborg, Uppsala & Västmanland Counties through their Regional Landscape Strategy Plan: Mosquito, Humans and Nature around the lower River Dalälven. Especially, we are grateful for the help from Ingmar Lindquist at Uppsala County Board for help with finding suitable study areas. Thanks also to all the landowners who provided us access to their land for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology and Genetics/Animal Ecology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden

    Örjan Östman, Åsa Wengström & Jan O. Lundström

  2. Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Ulf Gradin

  3. Swedish Biodiversity Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7007, 750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jörgen Wissman

  4. Swedish Biological Mosquito Control Project, c/o Nedab, Granövägen 25, 810 21, Gysinge, Sweden

    Martina Schäfer & Jan O. Lundström

Authors
  1. Örjan Östman
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  2. Åsa Wengström
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  3. Ulf Gradin
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  4. Jörgen Wissman
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  5. Martina Schäfer
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  6. Jan O. Lundström
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Örjan Östman.

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Östman, Ö., Wengström, Å., Gradin, U. et al. Lower abundance of flood water mosquito larvae in managed wet meadows in the lower Dalälven floodplains, Sweden. Wetlands Ecol Manage 23, 257–267 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9377-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-014-9377-z

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