Parasites and wildlife in a changing world: The vector-host- pathogen interaction as a learning case

Rizzoli, Annapaola; Tagliapietra, Valentina; Cagnacci, Francesca; Marini, Giovanni; Arnoldi, Daniele; Rosso, Fausta; Rosà, Roberto

We have observed that VC M is substantially driven by the vector to host ratio, which in turn is proportionally affected by both Culex spp mosquito and avian abundances. Climatic changes might substantially alter mosquito density and dynamics since temperature plays a key role at shaping the biological processes involved in the mosquito life cycle. In fact, warmer conditions hasten Culex spp immature stages development (Loetti et al., 2011) but can also substantially decrease mosquito longevity (Ciota et al., 2014; Andreadis et al., 2014) . Modelling studies have been performed to assess the possible impact of temperature change on Culex spp abundance. For instance, it has been shown that in Southern Europe higher temperatures throughout the year can decrease Culex spp adult survival during summer but at the same time increase considerably spring population size (Marini et al., 2016) , while at Northern latitudes, changes in temperatures could increase the peak vector abundance (Ewing et al., 2016) . More generally, temperature increase is expected to extend the mosquito active season at different latitudes (Morin and Comrie, 2013; Rosà et al., 2014) . Urbanization, land use and human activities might influence mosquito dynamics as well. It has been observed that Culex spp mosquitoes proliferate well both in agricultural and urban areas (McClure et al., 2018; Ferraguti et al., 2016; Johnson et al., 2012; Zittra et al., 2016; Trawinski and Mackay, 2010; Diuk-Wasser et al., 2006) , and anthropized environments might favor an earlier peak larval density thanks to a urban heat island effect (Townroe and Callaghan, 2014) .