MOSQUITO MONITOR
MOSQUITO
MONITOR
DISTRIBUTION OF INVASIVE MOSQUITOES IN HUNGARY
Climate change combined with a significant increase in international trade and tourism consist the main cause behind the emergence of new, tropical species in Europe. This process is called biological invasion that caused also the emergence of three new mosquito species in addition to the 50 native species in Hungary. Invasive mosquito species are potential vectors of several pathogens (e.g. viruses and roundworms) posing a risk to humans and domestic animals as well. To better understand the arising epidemiological threat we need to know the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of these species. For this purpose, scientists at the Centre for Ecological Research in collaboration with the University of Pécs launched a country-wide mosquito monitoring program in 2019 with the contribution of citizens. Citizens’ reports (based on collected mosquito specimens, photos sent via email or smartphone app) are inspected and validated by expert entomologists, then the resulting data can be used to generate informative figures that are represented here. By further processing of data, researchers can receive information on the ecology of invasive species as well as their role in the spread of pathogens.
The map below showing the expected occurrence of each invasive mosquito species is made by using the population data received so far by comparing observed distribution patterns with a number of habitat descriptor variables (e.g. rainfall, temperature, vegetation cover, distance from road networks and transport nodes, occurrence of native species) to identify the most important environmental factors that influence the distribution of each species. Thus, based on the ecological relationships identified, we can build a statistical model that can be fitted to points where environmental factors are known but no population observations of invasive species are yet available. Using this predictive approach, we can predict the probability of occurrence of each invasive mosquito species for the whole country, given the environmental conditions. This is summarised in the map below. A detailed description and validation of the method can be found here.
This site is made on behalf of the Centre for Ecological Research. Mosquito Monitor is a project and registered trademark of the Centre for Ecological Research.
Client
Centre for Ecological Research, László Zsolt Garamszegi
Data
Centre for Ecological Research, University of Pécs
Design, Graphics, Development
ÁTLÓ
Illustration
Dóra Oláh
Mosquito Alert
Opening image
David Scharf
