NEON Marks World Mosquito Day 2024: Data Used in Documenting Mosquito Species in Arizona, Monitoring Nonnative Mosquito Species in Florida, and Creating a New Model to Measure the Population Growth Rate of Mosquito Species

Since 2016, Battelle has had the privilege of managing and operating the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) in partnership with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

Originally conceived at the turn of the millennium and designed to collect measurements for three decades, NEON is a U.S.-wide network of 81 field sites that offers the global scientific community access to rich, continent-scale datasets that are driving ecological research.

As World Mosquito Day approaches on August 20, we found it important to highlight NEON’s role in providing researchers data on mosquito species in the United States. While many may think of mosquitoes as pests, studying them can shed light on a variety of things like climate change, the diseases they carry, and changing ecosystems.  

For July and August, we are highlighting three scientific pieces of how NEON data are being used to help with documenting, monitoring, and measuring mosquito species.

The latest news from NEON includes: 

1. NEON Used to Update Mosquito Species List in Arizona
   Researchers reported an updated list of mosquito species in Arizona to date. With the most recent comprehensive list published 50 years ago, researchers found it crucial to provide an overview of identified species; collection years, methods, areas and locations; feeding preferences; and diseases they carry or transmit. Samples from the NEON Biorepository at Arizona State University was used to show mosquito diversity in the state by identifying species to date, which helps enhance our understanding of mosquito biodiversity. This will also establish development of more effective mosquito surveillance and control strategies. As a result of the updated list, researchers found that social scientists can play an important role in mosquito-borne disease prevention efforts by providing insights into the link between mosquito-borne diseases and socioeconomic status in order to identify locations or specific populations that are more at risk for these diseases.


2. Nonnative Mosquito Species Increases in Florida
   Nonnative mosquitoes have been detected to be increasing in Collier County, Florida. Detecting nonnative species early provides an opportunity for quick intervention, and possibly slowing or preventing the spread of the species into new areas. NEON was used to show that nonnative species Culex tarsalis, which is common in the western U.S. and southern Canada, was found in Collier County. Cx. tarsalis is known to carry a variety of human diseases, one being West Nile virus, which is endemic in South Florida. The introduction of new diseases to the area by the species would be challenging, as the county would have to learn how to control it. Being able to monitor nonnative species and where they are established will allow researchers, mosquito control agencies and public health professionals to better prepare for future disease threat.


3. Mosquito Data from NEON used in Temporal Preferential Sampling Model
   When studying population dynamics, ecologists commonly use data that are subject to temporal preferential sampling, which is when interest and the timeframe when observations are made are dependent on each other. For example, ecologists working in temperate environments will design field studies that line up with the growing season. Researchers proposed a model to improve abundance estimates during times when observations are being made less frequently, to account for the temporal preferential sampling. They used NEON data in their mosquito case study and characterized population growth rate and abundance of mosquito species in the Aedes genus.  

Sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by Battelle, NEON is a continental-scale ecological observatory network dedicated to providing high-quality, consistently generated, standardized data that are free and available to all users. By enabling scientists, researchers, and students to address critical questions and understand ecosystem changes over time, the NEON program allows the ecological community to tackle questions and problems at a scale that was not possible before.