Item talk:Q227130

{

 "@context": "http://schema.org/",
 "@type": "WebPage",
 "additionalType": "Project",
 "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/pacific-island-ecosystems-research-center/science/edna-inform-invasive-mosquito-distribution",
 "headline": "eDNA to Inform Invasive Mosquito Distribution",
 "datePublished": "February 11, 2023",
 "author": [
   {
     "@type": "Person",
     "name": "M. Renee  Bellinger",
     "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/m-renee-bellinger",
     "identifier": {
       "@type": "PropertyValue",
       "propertyID": "orcid",
       "value": "0000-0001-5274-9572"
     }
   },
   {
     "@type": "Person",
     "name": "Dennis LaPointe",
     "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/dennis-lapointe",
     "identifier": {
       "@type": "PropertyValue",
       "propertyID": "orcid",
       "value": "0000-0002-6323-263X"
     }
   }
 ],
 "description": [
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Overview:"
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Develop water sampling protocols that can be used to recover DNA from environmental samples, in this case, water."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "A promising strategy to suppress mosquito populations is the Incompatible Insect Technique \u2013 IIT. IIT uses a naturally occurring bacteria, Wolbachia to act as mosquito \u201cbirth control.\u201d Wolbachia naturally infects many insects and plays an important role in insect reproduction. Male mosquitos infected with one strain of Wolbachia can only reproduce with females who carry a compatible strain. If they mate with a female that carries an incompatible strain of Wolbachia, or no Wolbachia at all, then the mosquito eggs won\u2019t develop and hatch.  For IIT, laboratory raised male mosquitos carrying an incompatible strain will be released on the landscape to mate with wild females, resulting in eggs that won\u2019t hatch. Male mosquitoes do not feed on blood, only nectar, so they don\u2019t spread disease. Consecutive releases of these male mosquitoes reduce the mosquito population over time. However, success of IIT depends on a sound understanding of the wild mosquito population dynamics."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Crater Rim Drive, Hawai\u2018i Volcanoes National Park\nPO Box 44\nHawai\u2018i National Park, HI 96718\nUnited States"
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Collect water samples in potential mosquito breeding habitat in K\u012bpahulu Valley streams to screen for mosquito presence using the genetic assay."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "We are using environmental DNA samples to assess habitat occupancy of the invasive southern house mosquito in K\u012bpahulu Valley, Maui. An understanding of mosquito distribution is critical to developing and implementing tools to prevent the transmission of avian malaria, a primary threat to Hawaiian forest birds."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Objectives:"
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Develop and evaluate a genetic test that is specific to the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus. This type of test (TaqMan assay) amplifies DNA of the target species using a process called quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). A fluorescent probe is used to determine if DNA of the target species is present in the qPCR reaction."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Environmental DNA (eDNA) is DNA left behind by organisms - skin, excrement etc. For this study, eDNA samples from water bodies in HALE provide a broader window of time to assess whether mosquito larvae have recently emerged - despite lack of visual confirmation."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "Direct physical measurements of the wild mosquito population include trapping adult mosquitoes and larval surveys in waterbodies suitable for mosquitoes. Ongoing trapping for adult mosquitoes in K\u012bpahulu Valley can provide an estimate of mosquito abundance and the timing of population peaks.  However, adult trapping doesn't tell us if the mosquitoes were produced nearby - a population source - or if they just fly up into the trapping area - a population sink.  Searching for the immature mosquito larvae in their aquatic habitat can confirm if an area is a population source, but larvae can be hard to detect. In these cases, environmental DNA is an additional observation tool."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "The primary threat to Hawaiian forest birds is the disease avian malaria, caused by a parasite - Plasmodium relicum \u2013 which is transmitted by the invasive Southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus. Low temperatures at high elevations limits mosquito distribution and disease transmission which provides disease-free sanctuary for forest birds. However, increases in temperatures and drought conditions due to climate change are allowing for the spread of mosquito populations to higher elevation areas. It\u2019s anticipated that warming conditions will also lead to increases in disease transmission, causing the extinction of most remaining Hawaiian honeycreepers species. To protect the birds, development and launch of landscape-level mosquito control is a top management priority of HALE; as well as a top conservation concern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office and the State of Hawai\u2019i Department of Land Natural Resources."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "K\u012bpahulu Biological Reserve in Haleakal\u0101 National Park - HALE - is one of the most remote, intact, dramatic valleys in the Pacific containing remarkable biodiversity found nowhere else on the planet. HALE contains critical habitat for six native Hawaiian honeycreepers, including three restricted to Maui: the \u2018\u0100kohekohe, Kiwikiu - both endangered - and Maui \u02bbAlauahio."
   },
   {
     "@type": "TextObject",
     "text": "The goal of this study is to use eDNA to provide key information on the distribution of mosquito populations in critical Hawaiian forest bird habitat. This can help guide where to apply IIT mosquitoes on the landscape and measure the success of mosquito suppression efforts."
   }
 ],
 "funder": {
   "@type": "Organization",
   "name": "Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center",
   "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/pacific-island-ecosystems-research-center"
 },
 "about": [
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Science Technology"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Aquatic Ecosystems"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Monitoring Ecosystem Function"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Predicting Invasive Species Impacts"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Water"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Hawaiian honeycreepers"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Haleakala National Park"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Measuring Ecosystem Function and Services"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Geology"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "invasive species"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Energy"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Kipahulu Valley"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Ecology of Invasive Species"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Regional Ecosystems Research"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Culex quinquefaciatus"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Ecosystems"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Invasive Species"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "mosquito control"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "invasive species dynamics"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Information Systems"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Methods and Analysis"
   },
   {
     "@type": "Thing",
     "name": "Environmental Health"
   }
 ]

}