Arbovirus transmission by Aedes mosquitoes has long been a significant problem in Africa. In West Africa, Aedes vector management faces significant challenges; lack of recent Aedes distributional data and potential distributional modeling hinder effective vector control and pose serious public health issues. In this study, larval and adult mosquitoes were collected from four study sites in Enugu State, Nigeria every other month between November 2017 and September 2018. A total number of 2997 Aedes mosquitoes were collected and identified, and 59 positive field occurrence points for both Aedes adult and larvae were recorded. A total of 18 positive occurrence points were used for modeling. Ecological Niche Models (ENMs) were used to estimate the current geographic distribution of Aedes species ( spp. ) in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria, and mosquito presence was used as a proxy for predicting risk of disease transmission. Maximum Entropy distribution modeling or “MaxEnt” was used for predicting the potential suitable habitats, using a portion of the occurrence records. A total of 23 environmental variables (19 bioclimatic and four topographic) were used to model the potential geographical distribution area under current climatic conditions. The most suitable habitat for Aedes spp. was predicted in the northern, central, and southeastern parts of Enugu State with some extensions in Anambra, Delta, and Edo States in the west, and Ebonyi State in the east. Seasonal temperature, precipitation of the wettest month, mean monthly temperature range, elevation, and precipitation of the driest months were the highest estimated main variable contributions associated with the distribution of Aedes spp. We found that Aedes spp. prefer to be situated in environmental conditions where precipitation of wettest month ranged from 265 to 330 mm, precipitation of driest quarter ranged from 25 to 75 mm while precipitation of wettest quarter ranged from 650 to 950 mm. Aedes mosquitoes, such as Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, pose a significant threat to human health, hence, the results of this study will help decision makers to monitor the distribution of these species and establish a management plan for future national mosquito surveillance and control programs in Nigeria.
Hypericum sinaicum is one of the near endemic plant species in Saint Katherine Protectorate. Found only in Sinai and Northwest Saudi Arabia, there are many challenges to the conservation of this species. The aim of this study is to: (1) identify and rank the different threats, and to identify their underlying root causes, as well as the barriers, affecting the conservation of the medicinal plants specially Hypericum sinaicum within the rich areas of SKP, and (2) compare and reassess documented by Assi (2007) in the same area. 237 circles with diameter 10 m were established to cover all environmental gradients with equal distance between each other. At each point we recorded all factors within the field that may be become Threat to the plant community, to medicinal plants. Results found that drought, feral donkeys and over collection are the most harmful threats for Hypericum sinaicum in Saint Katherine Protectorate, and most of root causes come from lack of awareness, weak law enforcement, lack of suitable strategies, weak financial support and lack of stakeholders' cooperation.
Conservation of globally endangered plant resources is a critical ecological, cultural and economic issue. The undertaking of ecological study focusing on the distribution, abundance and population structures of target species is fundamental to the assessment of the conservation status of wild populations. A study was carried out on the wild herb Hypericum sinaicum (Family: Hypericaceae) in Saint Katherine Protectorate (SKP), South Sinai, Egypt, where 22 sites presenting different habitats in SKP were surveyed for: (1) investigate the floristic composition, vegetation types and H. sinaicum distribution in the area, (2) define the ecological status of H. sinaicum and characterize this range by its size, shape, boundaries and internal structure, (3) clearly identify conservation priorities and suggest appropriate strategies for H. sinaicum conservation, (4) detect the effect of environmental factors on the distribution of H. sinaicum in order to use it as first step for conservation by rehabilitation or restoration, (5) determine the effect of spatial variation on plant community and H. sinaicum productivity, and (6) to determine the ecological and climatic requirements for this species and detect their effect on the species distribution. A total of 113 species were recorded in total within the 237 sites. 37 families were recorded within the study area; Asteraceae (15%) and Lamiaceae (11.5%) presented the dominant families in this area, while the Hypercaceae family which represented the target species (H. sinaicum) was recorded only once. H. sinaicum was recorded as dominant species in only 12 sites from 237 with 5%. Morphological attributes for Hypericum showed great variation due to the variation in the edaphic features of different locations. Finally it's was observed that vegetation constitutes an organized whole, it operates at a higher level of integration than the separate species and may possess emergent properties not necessarily found in individual themselves. Most of the H. sinaicum populations were small and the plants occurred sporadically in space, as little groups conjugated with wet soil. At the micro-site level, H. sinaicum plants occupied most of high altitude habitats in SKP such as cliffs, Wadi bed, terrace, gorge, slope and cave habitats. H. sinaicum prefers the wet and shady places like gorges, slopes and cliffs with continuous water supply. There is an urgent need to integrate the knowledge derived from ecological, demographic and climatic approaches to species conservation in order to be able to formulate management strategies that take into account all different considerations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.