Container Mosquito Abundance in Brooklyn Community Gardens

Community gardens in urban Brooklyn, New York are social spaces that provide food sovereignty to many New Yorkers, but the arrival of the mosquito Aedes albopictus and longtime presence of Culex pipiens makes socializing in these spaces more dangerous. Ae. albopictus is associated with several mosquito-borne diseases including dengue fever, Zika virus, and chikungunya virus while Cx. pipiens is a longtime vector of West Nile virus. Since Ae. albopictus and Cx. pipiens both breed in human-made plastic containers, knowledge of their preferred container types and locations could aid best management practices for community gardeners. This research looked at the abundance and genera of mosquito larvae in 22 Brooklyn community gardens to understand the breeding habits and survivability of these mosquitoes. This research found that non-purposeful container types and lower total volumes of water were significant predictors of higher mosquito densities, but these variables did not predict egg laying preference.