Habitat Hydrology and Geomorphology Control the Distribution of Malaria Vector Larvae in Rural Africa

Hardy, Andrew J., Gamarra, Javier G. P., Cross, Dónall E., Macklin, Mark G., Smith, Mark W., Kihonda, Japhet, Killeen, Gerry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8583-8739, Ling’ala, George N. and Thomas, Chris J. (2013) 'Habitat Hydrology and Geomorphology Control the Distribution of Malaria Vector Larvae in Rural Africa'. PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Issue 12, e81931.

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Abstract

Background

Larval source management is a promising component of integrated malaria control and elimination. This requires development of a framework to target productive locations through process-based understanding of habitat hydrology and geomorphology.

Methods

We conducted the first catchment scale study of fine resolution spatial and temporal variation in Anopheles habitat and productivity in relation to rainfall, hydrology and geomorphology for a high malaria transmission area of Tanzania.

Results

Monthly aggregates of rainfall, river stage and water table were not significantly related to the abundance of vector larvae. However, these metrics showed strong explanatory power to predict mosquito larval abundances after stratification by water body type, with a clear seasonal trend for each, defined on the basis of its geomorphological setting and origin.

Conclusion

Hydrological and geomorphological processes governing the availability and productivity of Anopheles breeding habitat need to be understood at the local scale for which larval source management is implemented in order to effectively target larval source interventions. Mapping and monitoring these processes is a well-established practice providing a tractable way forward for developing important malaria management tools.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 600 Insect control. Tick control QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 650 Insect vectors WB Practice of Medicine > Medical Climatology > WB 700 Medical climatology. Geography of disease WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 765 Prevention and control
Faculty: Department:	Biological Sciences > Vector Biology Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0081931
Depositing User:	Lynn Roberts-Maloney
Date Deposited:	20 Feb 2015 14:39
Last Modified:	16 Sep 2019 10:12
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/4938

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