Deforestation for oil palm increases microclimate suitability for the development of the disease vector Aedes albopictus.

ABSTRACT: A major trade-off of land-use change is the potential for increased risk of infectious diseases, a.o. through impacting disease vector life-cycles. Evaluating the public health implications of land-use conversions requires spatially detailed modelling linking land-use to vector ecology. Here, we estimate the impact of deforestation for oil palm cultivation on the number of life-cycle completions of Aedes albopictus via its impact on local microclimates. We apply a recently developed mechanistic phenology model to a fine-scaled (50-m resolution) microclimate dataset that includes daily temperature, rainfall and evaporation. Results of this combined model indicate that the conversion from lowland rainforest to plantations increases suitability for A. albopictus development by 10.8%, moderate

SUBMITTER: Saager ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10260943 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature