SP4 - Landscape
SP4 analyzes landscape structures, mosquito habitats, and climate change-related influences in order to better understand and strategically assess the risk of vector-borne diseases in urban and rural regions of Lower Saxony.
microclimates on vector-borne diseases
To improve the understanding of the relationships between local land cover and land use, climate change, and the risk of vector-borne diseases, SP4 investigates the landscape structure characteristics of the case study areas, including their spatial configuration. This enables the quantification of landscape complexity and fragmentation.
Based on the landscape structure analysis, suitable breeding habitats for Culex and Aedes mosquito species in the cities of Hannover and Braunschweig as well as in the rural area of Wedemark will be analyzed with regard to species composition and interspecific competition within larval communities.
In laboratory experiments, the effects of climate change (specifically temperature and humidity), biodiversity, and food availability on mosquito communities, population genetics, and their capacity to transmit viral pathogens will be modeled. The resulting data will help us understand how landscape structure, habitat connectivity, and climate change influence mosquito fauna and their potential for arbovirus transmission.
Additional sampling in the research apartments (SP6) will allow an assessment of the risk of arbovirus transmission indoors. The datasets will be shared with the Lower Saxony State Health Authority (NLGA) and used to support the strategic management of mosquito-borne disease risks in Lower Saxony.
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