Condition-Specific Competitive Effects of the Invasive Mosquito <i>Aedes albopictus</i> on the Resident <i>Culex pipiens</i> among Different Urban Container Habitats May Explain Their Coexistence in the Field
Condition-specific competition, when environmental conditions alter the outcome of competition, can foster the persistence of resident species after the invasion of a competitively superior invader. We test whether condition-specific competition can facilitate the areawide persistence of the residen...
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| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | EN |
| Publicado: |
MDPI AG
2021
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://doaj.org/article/eb6eddf5b166483f8c5ff7819d608a18 |
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| Sumario: | Condition-specific competition, when environmental conditions alter the outcome of competition, can foster the persistence of resident species after the invasion of a competitively superior invader. We test whether condition-specific competition can facilitate the areawide persistence of the resident and principal West Nile virus vector mosquito <i>Culex pipiens</i> with the competitively superior invasive <i>Aedes albopictus</i> in water from different urban container habitats. (2) Methods: We tested the effects of manipulated numbers of <i>A. albopictus</i> on <i>C. pipiens’</i> survival and development in water collected from common functional and discarded containers in Baltimore, MD, USA. The experiment was conducted with typical numbers of larvae found in field surveys of <i>C. pipiens</i> and <i>A. albopictus</i> and container water quality. (3) Results: We found increased densities of <i>A. albopictus</i> negatively affected the survivorship and development of <i>C. pipiens</i> in water from discarded containers but had little effect in water from functional containers. This finding was driven by water from trash cans, which allowed consistently higher <i>C. pipiens’</i> survival and development and had greater mean ammonia and nitrate concentrations that can promote microbial food than other container types. (4) Conclusions: These results suggest that the contents of different urban containers alter the effects of invasive <i>A. albopictus</i> competition on resident <i>C. pipiens,</i> that trash cans, in particular, facilitate the persistence of <i>C. pipiens,</i> and that there could be implications for West Nile virus risk as a result. |
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