Abstract:
Humans alter the environment at unprecedented rates through habitat destruction, nutrient
pollution and the application of agrochemicals. This has recently been proposed to act as a potentially
significant driver of pathogen-carrying mosquito species (disease vectors) that pose a health risk to
humans and livestock. Here, we use a unique set of locations along a large geographical gradient to
show that landscapes disturbed by a variety of anthropogenic stressors are consistently associated
with vector-dominated mosquito communities for a wide range of human and livestock infections.
This strongly suggests that human alterations to the environment promote the presence and
abundance of disease vectors across large spatial extents. As such, it warrants further studies aimed
at unravelling mechanisms underlying vector prevalence in mosquito communities, and opens up new
opportunities for preventative action and predictive modelling of vector borne disease risks in relation
to degradation of natural ecosystems.
