COS 141-5 - Socio-Ecological Predictors of Community-Based Mosquito Management Outcomes: A Mid-Atlantic Case Study in Maryland

Background/Question/Methods

The tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is one of the most invasive species worldwide. It is an aggressive biter and vectors several arboviruses, including West Nile virus (WNV). Aedes albopictus develops in artificial water-filled containers (e.g., trash, buckets, birdbaths), which are numerous, cryptic, and inaccessible in urban areas, making agency-based mosquito-ciding ineffective in residential landscapes. Aedes albopictus invasion in the eastern United States has altered WNV transmission, modified people's outdoor behaviors, and negatively affected people's perceptions of their environment. Since 2016, the town of University Park, Maryland has implemented a community-led A. albopictus control program using Gravid Aedes Traps (GATs), which was shown to reduce area-wide abundances of biting adults in 2017. In this study, we tested relationships of household demographics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) with the deployment of GATs in 2021 to identify socio-ecological predictors of longer-term program success. In summer 2021, we conducted yard surveys of University Park households to assess GAT deployment, mosquito habitat, and mosquito infestation. We deployed complimentary online human subjects and GIS surveys to gather environmental, demographic, and KAP data. We also trapped adult mosquitoes throughout the town from mid-August to mid-September to test the relationship between household GAT deployment to area-wide adult abundances.

Results/Conclusions

Only 17.8% of surveyed households still deployed GATs in 2021 compared to 40% of total households in 2016, and only 41.6% of households that deployed GATs in 2021 set them up correctly. Generalized linear models revealed significant relationships between several demographic and KAP predictors with household GAT deployment. For example, highest-income households, respondents with the most favorable overall perceptions of the GAT program, respondents with mosquito species knowledge, and respondents who spent more hours outdoors were all more likely to deploy GATs. Additionally, we found significant negative relationships between correct GAT deployment with backyard mosquito infestation, respondent perceptions of mosquito nuisance, and respondent age. In this talk, we will summarize these and other important relationships of KAP and environmental predictors with GAT deployment, mosquito infestation levels, and abundances of biting adults. By identifying key ecological and social predictors of GAT deployment, we can better target education and outreach to increase GAT coverage in University Park, MD, help other communities implement community-led GAT programs, and advance our understanding of socio-ecological predictors of environmental management more generally.