Where boundaries become bridges: Mosquito community composition, key vectors, and environmental associations at forest edges in the central Brazilian Amazon

Risk of spillover and spillback of mosquito-borne viruses in the neotropics, including yellow fever, dengue, Zika (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus), chikungunya, and Mayaro (Togaviridae: Alphavirus) viruses, is highest at ecotones where humans, monkeys, and mosquitoes coexist. With a view to identifying potential bridge vectors, we investigated changes in mosquito community composition and environmental variables at ground level at distances of 0, 500, 1000, and 2000 m from the edge of a rainforest reserve bordering the city of Manaus in the central Brazilian Amazon. During two rainy seasons in 2019 and 2020, we sampled 9,467 mosquitoes at 244 unique sites using BG-Sentinel traps, hand-nets, and Prokopack aspirators. Species richness and diversity were generally higher at 0 m and 500 m than at 1000 m and 2000 m, while mosquito community composition changed considerably between the forest edge and 500 m before stabilizing by 1000 m. Shifts in environmental variables mainly occurred between the edge and 500 m, and the occurrence of key taxa (Aedes albopictus, Ae. scapularis, Limatus durhamii, Psorophora amazonica, Haemagogus, and Sabethes) was associated with one or more of these variables. Sites where Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus were detected had significantly higher surrounding mean NDBI (Normalized Difference Built-up Index) values than sites where they were not detected, while the opposite was true for Sabethes mosquitoes. Our findings suggest that major changes in mosquito communities and environmental variables occur within 500 m of the forest edge, where there is high risk for contact with both urban and sylvatic vectors. By 1000 m, conditions stabilize, species diversity decreases, and forest mosquitoes predominate. Environmental variables associated with the occurrence of key taxa may be leveraged to characterize suitable habitat and refine risk models for pathogen spillover and spillback. Author summaryMosquito-borne viruses, including yellow fever, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and Mayaro viruses, derive from sylvatic transmission cycles involving forest mosquitoes and wild animals. Occasionally, these sylvatic viruses spill over into humans, which can lead to limited disease outbreaks or sustained human transmission by urban mosquitoes. When translocated by humans to new geographic regions, these viruses have potential to spill back into novel sylvatic cycles, creating a lasting threat to human health. Ecotones, such as forest edges, where humans, mosquitoes, and monkeys coexist, are at high risk of spillover and spillback. We investigated changes in mosquito community composition at incremental distances up to 2000 m into rainforest bordering the Amazonian city of Manaus, where the above viruses circulate in urban and sylvatic cycles. We also characterized mosquito habitat and analyzed associations between key vector species and environmental variables like temperature and vegetation. Our results show that mosquito communities and environmental variables change abruptly within 500 m of the forest edge, where there is high risk for contact of both monkeys and humans with both urban and forest mosquitoes. By 1000 m, conditions stabilize, and forest mosquitoes predominate. Environmental variables associated with the presence of particular mosquito taxa will help characterize suitable habitat for key vector species and refine spillover and spillback risk models for these viruses.

Automated summary

By studying mosquito community composition and environmental variables at different distances from the edge of a rainforest reserve in the central Brazilian Amazon, we found that species richness and diversity were higher closer to the forest edge and decreased further away. The composition of the mosquito community also changed significantly within the first 500 meters. Environmental variables associated with the occurrence of key mosquito taxa were identified.