Islands in the Stream: Impact of flood-induced landscape changes on mosquito community composition in the Brazilian Pantanal, with implications for arbovirus transmission.

Central Hypothesis: We hypothesize that, during the period of inundation in the Pantanal region of Brazil, elevated patches of vegetation called capoes, that function as islands, will act as refugia in which vectors and hosts are concentrated, thereby enhancing the host range of mosquitoes and the potential for arbovirus transmission and cross-host exchange.

Overall goal: The Pantanal is inundated annually. As a consequence, land cover change has been minimal and domestic and wild animals are highly intermixed. However, arbovirus transmission and arbovirus exchange among species in this region is badly understudied. We hypothesize that capoes (elevated arboreal patches of herbaceous vegetation in flooded fields which stay dry year-round) serve as refuges in which hosts and vectors are concentrated during the flooded season, and thereby act as engines of arbovirus transmission. We will test this hypothesis, and thereby elucidate how seasonal inundation shapes the ecology of mosquito-mediated arbovirus spillover from wildlife to livestock, domestic animals, and humans in the Pantanal.