RESUMO
Wetlands have traditionally been associated with harbouring mosquitoes, but the effect of the land use on their communities has not been thoroughly studied. We characterized the ground-water habitat availability and mosquito species richness and composition during a year-round survey in the predominant land uses (domestic areas, Salicaceae plantations, secondary forests and Scirpus giganteus marshes) of the Paraná Lower Delta, Argentina. Each land use presented a characteristically different number, composition, and diversity of ground-water habitats, and harboured mosquitoes throughout the year. Nearly half of the 824 habitats examined, consisting of 10 types, were positive for immatures. We identified 23 species from 7 genera, with Culex and Ochlerotatus species accounting for 81.7% of all samples. Species richness was significantly lower in marshes than in the other land uses. Some species such as Culex dolosus s.l. and Ochlerotatus crinifer exhibited no habitat-type restrictions, while Uranotaenia nataliae and Mansonia indubitans presented specific habitat requirements. Our results strongly suggest that land use within temperate wetlands drives species richness and composition of ground-water mosquito communities through larval habitat availability.
