Why did mosquito populations surge after drought dried up their habitat?
As researchers piece together the disease puzzle, some of the most complicated variables revolve around the mosquito. Notorious for transmitting malaria, West Nile virus, and other pathogens, mosquitos are expected to develop faster at higher temperatures, raising concerns that global warming could spur disease outbreaks. But as researchers like Jonathan Chase unravel how mosquitos respond to key climate conditions, they’re reaching surprising new conclusions. An ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Chase didn’t set out to discover anything about mosquitos. He wanted to know how droughts affected biodiversity, so his team built artificial wetlands by filling outdoor tanks with dirt and water. To simulate different wetland drying patterns, they left some tanks full year-round, while others were drained annually. A third type of tank was drained only once in three years, mimicking wetlands that generally retain water but go dry during a drought. You might think periodic droug
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