Assessing and correcting neighborhood socioeconomic spatial sampling biases in citizen science mosquito data collection

Climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic factors are facilitating the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, heightening the importance of vector surveillance and control. Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool to track mosquito populations, but methods are needed to detect and account for sm...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Padilla-Pozo, Álvaro, Bartumeus, Frederic|||0000-0001-6908-3797, Montalvo Porro, Tomas|||0000-0002-9060-3205, Sanpera-Calbet, Isis|||0000-0001-7004-4293, Valsecchi, Andrea, Palmer, John R. B.|||0000-0002-2648-7860
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:307779
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/307779
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1038/s41598-024-73416-6
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mosquito-borne diseases
Vector control
Vector surveillance
Aedes albopictus
Citizen science
Social inequality
Urban ecology
Environmental social sciences
Descripción
Sumario:Climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic factors are facilitating the spread of mosquito-borne diseases, heightening the importance of vector surveillance and control. Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool to track mosquito populations, but methods are needed to detect and account for small scale sampling biases in citizen science surveillance. In this article we combine two types of traditional mosquito surveillance records with data from the Mosquito Alert citizen science system to explore the ways in which the socioeconomic characteristics of urban neighborhoods result in sampling biases in citizen scientists' mosquito reports, while also shaping the spatial distribution of mosquito populations themselves. We use Barcelona, Spain, as an example, and focus on Aedes albopictus, an invasive vector species of concern worldwide. Our results suggest citizen scientists' sampling effort is focused more in Barcelona's lower and middle income census tracts than in its higher income ones, whereas Ae. albopictus populations are concentrated in the city's upper-middle income tracts. High resolution estimates of the spatial distribution of Ae. albopictus risk can be improved by controlling for citizen scientists' sampling effort, making it possible to provide better insights for efficiently targeting control efforts. Our methodology can be replicated in other cities faced with vector mosquitoes to improve public health responses to mosquito-borne diseases, which impose massive burdens on communities worldwide.