Researchers sound alarm after recording sudden drop in species used to help fight diseases: 'That is really, really dangerous'
One Florida lizard species has been distracting mosquitoes away from humans and bearing the brunt of their bites.
However, that lizard's population is dwindling, leaving increasing mosquito populations to feed on other animals and people instead.
As WLRN and The Miami Herald jointly reported, brown anole lizards have been declining in numbers due to reptile collectors releasing their unwanted pets in the wild — primarily, the outlet said, the larger Peter's rock agamas were out-competing the brown anoles for food, dwindling the local population. In the past, brown anoles were prime targets for local mosquitoes.
The report noted that an agama "hides in cracks and crevices as soon as the sun begins to set," generally making it less susceptible to mosquito bites than brown anole lizards. Researchers studied whether fewer brown anoles means more birds will get bitten by mosquitoes. Birds are dangerous hosts because of their propensity to spread mosquito-borne diseases.
To test their theory about mosquitoes' shifting behaviors, the researchers captured and studied mosquitoes and studied the DNA to identify forensic evidence of what they were biting when they had anoles in their area and when the researchers had caught many anoles and subtracted them from the area. The hypothesis was that when there are not many anoles in the area, the rates of bird bites rise.
This WLRN and Miami Herald report came in the middle of these efforts, so it's a "to be continued" for now. But when the results are available, they hope to better understand how humans' introduction of non-native species damages ecosystems and has unintended consequences that risk human health.
A University of Florida invasion ecologist, Melissa Miller, said, "Brown anoles seem like such a small component of the ecosystem, but even removing that can have impacts that are felt much higher up the food chain, all the way to humans."
This research is significant because of the disease risks mosquitoes carry and because mosquito activity is becoming more common in places like Florida. Our planet's steady overheating is creating ideal conditions for mosquitoes to thrive and multiply.
With this population boost comes the increased spread of vector-borne illnesses that cause people to become very sick and even die. Mosquitoes are evolving and adapting to rising global temperatures, making diseases like dengue, malaria, and Zika more common in places they've never existed.
It is expected that within the next 25 years, mosquito season in the U.S. will last two months longer than it does now.
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"That is really, really dangerous, because toward the end of the transmission period, that is when most of these mosquitoes are infected," said Miami-Dade's Mosquito Control's division chief, Dr. John-Paul Mutebi. "They keep on picking up the pathogens as the season goes."
Studies like this one contribute to our greater comprehension of how healthy ecosystems work and the impacts of eliminating any species.
Fortunately, research teams are working to find solutions. For example, one group found that disease threats can be curbed by restricting mosquitoes' preferred plant food sources. Other scientists have been working to disable mosquitoes' ability to spread diseases through gene editing and DNA modification.
As an individual, you can help prevent mosquito-spread diseases by limiting your impact on the environment.
Never release invasive species into the wild because the widespread ecosystem impacts could be devastating. You can also protect yourself from mosquitoes by paying attention to public health alerts, limiting outdoor activity during prime mosquito times, and eliminating standing water sources in your yard.
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