It’s finally summertime! We all know what that means! Beautiful weather perfect for baseball games, days out on the boat and, of course, mosquitoes!
We are all familiar with these little bloodsuckers. They come out in hundreds just when we want to be outside most to ruin our fun and give us a season of itchiness. They can take over our yards, rendering them practically useless in the summer. For these and other reasons, municipalities and homeowners spend significant portions of their time and effort combating mosquitos with everything from citronella candles, bug spray, to some serious pesticides. However, there may be an easier way to reduce and control mosquito populations.
You probably know that healthy wetlands provide a multitude of services that our communities depend on. They improve our water quality, offer storm protection, and increase our resilience to sea-level rise and nuisance flooding. They also provide us with a perfect ecosystem for some of our favorite summertime activities. There’s fishing, bird-watching, kayaking, and so much more! However, there’s one service that you may know about.
Did you know that, contrary to popular belief, wetland conservation and restoration can reduce and actually control mosquito populations? I found it hard to believe when I first heard about it. When I moved to coastal Mississippi, I rented a house on Simmons Bayou. I spoke with someone at a mosquito control service about getting the yard treated, because I thought being on a bayou meant mosquitos for sure. That person explained to me that the bayou would protect me, and he was right! Here’s how it works.
Healthy wetlands control mosquitos by providing habitat for their natural predators, such as dragonflies, bats, frogs, and juvenile fish. When a mosquito lays its larvae in a wetland that is host to these fish, birds, mammals, and insects most of them are gobbled up before they can become an adult mosquito. Protecting these ecosystems means being smart about where we develop land near wetlands, preventing gross stuff like runoff and sewage from reaching our waterways, and being mindful of the wildlife.
When wetlands become degraded or disappear, mosquito populations can increase. This can happen for a couple of reasons. First, the animals that eat mosquitos and their larvae will leave or otherwise be prevented from reaching them. Second, when a wetland is drained or filled, flooding can pool where it once was absorbed by the wetlands. These pools are a perfect mosquito breeding ground.
Wetland restoration can reduce these problems. For instance, a community in Massachusetts found that by restoring a 1,500 acre wetland, they reduced their local mosquito population by 90%! This works by re-naturalizing critical habitat and reconnecting waterways, which leads fish, bats, and other mosquito predators to return to the area.
Of course, no amount of wetlands will ever get rid of 100% of mosquitos, so don’t stop emptying out birdbaths, buckets, and anything else that water pools in around your house! Reducing the breeding habitat for mosquitos is the biggest way that you can control mosquitos around your own home.
By taking some small steps, you can make a difference in protecting our coastal wetlands and, in turn, preventing more mosquitoes from hanging around. Here are a few tips to consider:
- Reduce or eliminate the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides used in your yard. These chemicals can be carried from your yard to waterways during storms and lead to polluted water and degraded wetlands over time. Look here for more information:
- Slow down when boating near wetlands. Wave energy can be a major erosive factor in wetlands. Check out this link to learn more.
- If you live on waterfront property, then consider installing a living shoreline to attract mosquito-eaters to your shoreline. Learn more here.
Interested in learning more about how healthy wetlands control mosquitos? Look at this factsheet from the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife.
For more information on community resilience to flooding and sea-level rise, check out the Northern Gulf Sentinel Site Cooperative website!
To learn more about living shorelines and their many benefits, visit the living shorelines page for Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant.
Meet the author
Sara Martin
Wetland Specialist, Mississippi State University
Sara Martin is a wetland specialist and extension associate with the Program for Local Adaptation to Changing Environments and the Mississippi State University (MSU) Coastal Research and Extension... Read more
Phone: 228-546-1016
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