Search for: All records

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a long-term monitoring program at the continental scale designed to understand and forecast ecological responses to environmental change at local to broad scales. However, despite robust and nearly continuous collections, NEON mosquito data have been underused in downstream analyses. Here, we provide species-level estimated abundances for nighttime collected female mosquitoes derived from the mosquitoes sampled from CO2 traps (DP1.10043.001) (RELEASE-2024; NEON, 2024). By including zero counts, our derived data complement existing data sets and provide an analysis-ready time series useful for investigating mosquito phenology, abundances, and diversity at the species or community level. We also outline a set of considerations specific to filtering NEON mosquito data by sex and for day or nighttime collections, highlighting factors that could introduce uncertainty to abundance estimates. Along with the data set, we provide an R Markdown file that includes annotated code and documents our data filtering and QC/QA steps, as well as data files used to filter the mosquito data based on QC/QA criteria. All files are freely available for download through the Environmental Data Initiative data portal. Our reproducible and fully documented workflow can be easily adapted for specific needs or other NEON surveillance data. Our work aims to enhance the accessibility and use of NEON’s rich, long-term monitoring data. 

This Level 2 data package contains species level estimated abundances, including zero counts, and estimated mean number of female mosquitoes per trap derived from the NEON Mosquitoes sampled from CO2 traps (DP1.10043.001), RELEASE-2024 Level 0 data (https://doi.org/10.48443/3cyq-6v47). The data set includes mosquito records of traps collecting mosquito samples at night, for up to 24 trap hours, across a total of 20 terrestrial core and 27 terrestrial gradient sites from 2014 to 2022. To ensure high confidence in abundance estimates, records were only included when at least 90% of collected individuals were identified to sex, and 90% of female specimens were identified to species. Information across multiple QC/QA fields within the NEON mosquito data was evaluated to identify and exclude records where confidence in estimated abundances may have been compromised. Species level zero counts were added for all species collected at least once within the sampling year and trap location. Additionally, species level zero counts were included for trap events where only male mosquitoes had been collected or where QC/QA remarks indicated traps were inactive due to cold temperatures. The data set provides an analysis ready time series of estimated abundances across NEON sites and plots. An R Markdown file that contains descriptions of the QC/QA and data filtering steps along with annotated code, as well as data tables used to filter active and inactive trap events based on QC/QA fields, are published with the data package. Any questions about this data package should be directed to Amely Bauer listed under contacts. 

Abstract Insects often exhibit irruptive population dynamics determined by environmental conditions. We examine if populations of theCulex tarsalismosquito, a West Nile virus (WNV) vector, fluctuate synchronously over broad spatial extents and multiple timescales and whether climate drives synchrony inCx. tarsalis, especially at annual timescales, due to the synchronous influence of temperature, precipitation, and/or humidity. We leveraged mosquito collections across 9 National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) sites distributed in the interior West and Great Plains region USA over a 45-month period, and associated gridMET climate data. We utilized wavelet phasor mean fields and wavelet linear models to quantify spatial synchrony for mosquitoes and climate and to calculate the importance of climate in explainingCx. tarsalissynchrony. We also tested whether the strength of spatial synchrony may vary directionally across years. We found significant annual synchrony inCx. tarsalis, and short-term synchrony during a single period in 2018. Mean minimum temperature was a significant predictor of annualCx. tarsalisspatial synchrony, and we found a marginally significant decrease in annualCx. tarsalissynchrony. SignificantCx. tarsalissynchrony during 2018 coincided with an anomalous increase in precipitation. This work provides a valuable step toward understanding broadscale synchrony in a WNV vector. 

Abstract Climatic change is dramatically altering phenology but generalities regarding tempo and mode of response remain limited. Here we present a general model framework incorporating spring temperature, velocity of spring warming, and species’ thermal requirements for predicting phenological response to warming. A key prediction of this framework is that species active earlier in the season and located in warmer regions where spring temperature velocity is lowest show strongest sensitivity to climatic change and greatest advancement in response to warming. We test this prediction using plant phenology datasets collected in the 1850s and 2010s. Our results strikingly confirm model predictions, showing that while temperature sensitivity is higher in regions with low temperature velocity, the greatest realized change in phenological onset is northern areas where warming rates have been fastest. Our framework offers enhanced utility for predicting phenological sensitivity and responsiveness in temperate regions and across multiple plant species and potentially other groups.