Sea Level Rise and Delawares Coastal Mosquito Control Program

Paul Zarebicki Environmental Scientist Delaware Mosquito Control Section

Coastal Delaware
DE is located on the Delmarva peninsula between the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays Delaware River & Bay and Atlantic Ocean are the Eastern boundary of the state

Mosquito Control in Delaware

Delaware is in the top ten for both population density and percent wetland cover = need for mosquito control DE has had an organized mosquito control program since the 1950s IPM based program; public outreach, source reduction, larval control, and adult control

DE is comprised of approximately 15% estuarine wetlands

Problem Mosquitoes in Coastal Delaware

Ochlerotatus sollicitans Common Saltmarsh Mosquito
Ochlerotatus cantator Brown Saltmarsh Mosquito Ochlerotatus taeniohyncus Black Saltmarsh Mosquito Aedes vexans Floodwater Mosquito Anopheles bradleyi Brads Culex salinarius Un-banded Saltmarsh Mosquito

Typical salt marsh breeding potholes in Salt Hay (Spartina patens)

Dry breeding pocket in Salt Hay

After flooding

Impacts of Sea Level Rise on Delawares Marshes

Sea level is rising, ~1 foot over the past century and some models show sea level rise of 1 3 feet over the next century 3 examples of previously vegetated areas converting to open water Low areas of S. alterniflora are the most susceptible and are the best way to show the effects the slowly increasing water levels have on tidal marsh vegetation Fringe upland areas show the same change through dead/dying trees and agriculture fields that can no longer be planted and are converting to salt marsh vegetation

Impacts of Sea Level Rise

Milford Neck 1997 Milford Neck 2007

Impacts of Sea Levels Rise Cont

Shockley 1997 Shockley 2007

Impacts of Sea Level Rise Cont

PHNWR 1997 PHNWR 2007

What is changing with mosquito control efforts in coastal Delaware

Fringe areas at the wetland/upland interface that were traditionally too dry to produce mosquitoes are beginning to become major salt marsh mosquito producers Traditional open marsh problem areas are becoming a non-issue as new tidal breeding areas inland are being created Problems areas are shifting inland

Summary
Sea level rise is occurring Tidally affected areas are changing Coastal/tidal mosquito control efforts must and will continue to evolve with the inevitable habitat change and tidal areas creeping inland