Eliska Rejmankova - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Eliska Rejmankova

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and detection of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula (Diptera: Culicidae) larval habitats in Belize with field survey and SPOT satellite imagery

PubMed, Jun 1, 1998

Surveys of larval habitats of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula were conducted i... more Surveys of larval habitats of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula were conducted in Belize, Central America. Habitat analysis and classification resulted in delineation of eight habitat types defined by dominant life forms and hydrology. Percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, shrubs, open water, and pH were significantly different between sites with and without An. vestitipennis. For An. punctimacula, percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, trees, detritus, open water, and water depth were significantly different between larvae positive and negative sites. The discriminant function for An. vestitipennis correctly predicted the presence of larvae in 65% of sites and correctly predicted the absence of larvae in 88% of sites. The discriminant function for An. punctimacula correctly predicted 81% of sites for the presence of larvae and 45% for the absence of larvae. Canonical discriminant analysis of the three groups of habitats (An. vestitipennis positive; An. punctimacula positive; all negative) confirmed that while larval habitats of An. punctimacula are clustered in the tree dominated area, larval habitats of An. vestitipennis were found in both tree dominated and tall dense macrophyte dominated environments. The forest larval habitats of An. vestitipennis and An. punctimacula seem to be randomly distributed among different forest types. Both species tend to occur in denser forests with more detritus, shallower water, and slightly higher pH. Classification of dry season (February) SPOT multispectral satellite imagery produced 10 land cover types with the swamp forest and tall dense marsh classes being of particular interest. The accuracy assessment showed that commission errors for the tall, dense marsh and swamp forest appeared to be minor; but omission errors were significant, especially for the swamp forest (perhaps because no swamp forests are flooded in February). This means that where the classification indicates there are An. vestitipennis breeding sites, they probably do exist; but breeding sites in many locations are not identified and could be more abundant than indicated.

Research paper thumbnail of Communications: Mosquito Habitats, Land Use, and Malaria Risk in Belize from Satellite Imagery

Research paper thumbnail of Preliminary limnological and botanical characterization of larval habitats for two primary malarial vectors, Anopheles albimanus and An. pseudopunctipennis, in coastal areas of Chiapas State, Mexico

Verhandlungen, Dec 1, 1991

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of Nutrient Limitations and Watershed Inputs on Community Respiration in a Deep, Tropical Lake: Comparison of Pelagic and Littoral Habitats

Water Resources Research, Aug 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Hydrologic alterations impact plant litter decay rate and ecosystem resilience in Mojave wetlands

Restoration Ecology, May 20, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Childhood parasitic infections and gastrointestinal illness in indigenous communities at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

PeerJ, 2021

Lake Atitlán has experienced a decline in water quality resulting from cultural eutrophication. I... more Lake Atitlán has experienced a decline in water quality resulting from cultural eutrophication. Indigenous Mayans who already face disproportionate health challenges rely directly on the lake water. Our objectives were to: (1) estimate prevalence of shedding of water-borne fecal parasites among children 5 years of age and younger, (2) assess household-reported incidence of gastrointestinal illness in children, and (3) characterize water sources, treatment, and sanitation conditions in households. We hypothesized that household use of untreated lake water results in increased risk of shedding of parasites and gastrointestinal symptoms. A cross-sectional fecal sampling and physical exam of 401 children were conducted along with WASH surveys in partnership with healthcare providers in seven communities. Fecal samples were screened for Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum, using a rapid ELISA, with a portion examined by microscope. The prevalence of parasite shedding was 12.2% (9....

Research paper thumbnail of Bacterial abundance in larval habitats of four species of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belize, Central America

PubMed, Dec 1, 2000

Numbers of free-living and attached bacteria were counted in surface waters from larval habitats ... more Numbers of free-living and attached bacteria were counted in surface waters from larval habitats of four species of Anopheles mosquitoes: Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann, An. darlingi Root, An. vestitipennis Dyar and Knab, and An. pseudopunctiopennis Theobald, using a direct count method and DAPI staining technique. Bacterial counts from larval habitats were compared to those from adjacent open water. Several additional variables such as total suspended solids (TSS), particulate organic carbon (POC), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were also recorded in order to establish possible relationships with bacterial characteristics. Our results showed that the waters from larval habitats were enriched with bacteria as well as POC and DOC compared to open water. The major component of all samples consisted of cocci, the proportion of rods was similar and there were significantly more attached rods in habitat samples than in open water samples. Anopheles vestitipennis habitats had the highest values of each of the categories of bacteria as well as of POC and DOC.

Research paper thumbnail of Larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes in the Upper Orinoco, Venezuela

PubMed, Dec 1, 1999

Survey of larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes was conducted in Ocamo in the State of Amazona... more Survey of larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes was conducted in Ocamo in the State of Amazonas, southern Venezuela. The sampled habitats belonged to three different hydrological types: lagoons (26 habitats), forest pools including flooded forest (16 habitats), and forest streams (4 habitats). Out of 46 habitats surveyed, 31 contained anopheline larvae. Six species were found: Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles triannulatus, Anopheles oswaldoi, Anopheles peryassui, Anopheles punctimacula, and Anopheles mediopunctatus. Anopheles triannulatus was the most abundant species. Significantly higher numbers of anopheline larvae, in general, and of An. triannulatus specifically were found in lagoons with submersed macrophytes and sparse emergent graminoids than in forest pools with detritus.

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats

PubMed, Dec 1, 1996

A survey of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats was performed throughout most of its kno... more A survey of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats was performed throughout most of its known geographic range. Eleven key environment variables characterized most larval habitats of this important vector of malaria in the Americas. Larval habitats occurred mainly in valley and foothill areas which were often situated in arid regions. Immatures were found primarily during the dry season in sun-exposed freshwater stream pools with clear, shallow, stagnant water containing abundant filamentous green algae and/or aquatic vegetation.

Research paper thumbnail of Limnological and botanical characterization of larval habitats for two primary malarial vectors, Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles pseudopunctipennis, in coastal areas of Chiapas State, Mexico

PubMed, Dec 1, 1990

Field surveys of mosquito breeding sites on the Pacific coastal plain and foothill regions of sou... more Field surveys of mosquito breeding sites on the Pacific coastal plain and foothill regions of southern Chiapas, Mexico, were carried out in the dry and wet seasons of 1988. At each site, selected environmental variables were measured or estimated, presence and percent cover of aquatic plants recorded, a water sample collected for subsequent analyses, and 10-30 dips made for mosquito larvae. Logistic regression and discriminant analyses revealed that the occurrence of Anopheles albimanus larvae in both the wet and dry seasons was positively associated with planktonic algae and negatively associated with altitude. In the dry season, An. albimanus larvae were largely restricted to the margins of permanent water bodies and were associated with the presence of floating plants, particularly Eichhornia crassipes. During the wet season An. albimanus larvae were positively associated with emergent plants, particularly seasonally flooded Cyperaceae, and phosphorus (PO4) concentrations, and were negatively associated with abundant filamentous algae, high levels of total suspended solids (TSS) and Salvinia. In the dry season, An. pseudopunctipennis larvae were positively associated with filamentous algae, altitude and the presence of Heteranthera if encountered in a riverine setting, and were negatively associated with water depth. During the wet season, flooding eliminated typical flood plain An. pseudopunctipennis habitats, and larvae were rarely encountered.

Research paper thumbnail of Use of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems to Predict Locations ofAnopheles darlingi-Positive Breeding Sites Within the Sibun River in Belize, Central America

Journal of Medical Entomology, Mar 1, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Complex phyllosphere microbiome aids in the establishment of the invasive macrophyte <i>Hydrilla verticillata</i> (L.) under conditions of nitrogen scarcity

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Jan 11, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of <sup>15</sup>N as an indicator of N<sub>2</sub>-fixation by cyanobacterial mats in tropical marshes

Biogeochemistry, Feb 1, 2004

Cyanobacterial mats (CBM) are important components of wetland ecosystems in limestone-based regio... more Cyanobacterial mats (CBM) are important components of wetland ecosystems in limestone-based regions of the Caribbean. During two sampling periods (July 1999 and January 2000) we measured N2-fixation in samples from 23 different marshes simultaneously with measurements of relevant environmental factors. Samples were evaluated for abundance of five groups of cyanobacteria: (1) Leptolyngbya, (2) Oscillatoria, (3) Chroococcales, (4) Nostoc-&amp;amp; Stigonematales, and

Research paper thumbnail of Distribution of Anopheles albimanus, Anopheles vestitipennis, and Anopheles crucians Associated with Land Use in Northern Belize

Journal of Medical Entomology, May 1, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Aquatic Vegetation as a Basis for Classification of Anopheles albimanus Weideman (Diptera: Culicidae) Larval Habitats

Environmental Entomology, Jun 1, 1992

... A more-detailed description of the study site is given in Savage et a1.(1990) and Rejmankova ... more ... A more-detailed description of the study site is given in Savage et a1.(1990) and Rejmankova et a1.(1991). ... The follow-ing variables were used for the analysis: water conductivity, permanence-seasonality of the habitat, mean plant height, percentage of emer-gent and floating ...

Research paper thumbnail of Weed-Crop Competition: Experimental Designs and Models for Data Analysis

Weed Science, Mar 1, 1989

Substitutive (replacement) and partial additive experimental designs, with their underlying model... more Substitutive (replacement) and partial additive experimental designs, with their underlying models, remain the two most popular techniques in weed-crop competition studies, despite considerable criticism of these approaches in the recent literature. We review standard designs for two-species competition experiments and demonstrate the advantages of a reciprocal yield model applied to data from an additive series experiment, using mixtures of Japanese millet and tomato. A traditional replacement series analysis failed to provide a general model of competition among these two species over several total plant densities, while an application of a reciprocal yield (inverse linear) model to the same data was successful. This technique allows evaluation of the influences of both weed on crop and crop on weed, as well as the partitioning of net competition effects into intra- and interspecific components. One Japanese millet plant was competitively equivalent to 3.7 tomato plants, as measured by effects on tomato biomass, while one tomato plant was equivalent to 0.14 Japanese millet plants, as measured by effects on millet biomass. Skewness of per plant biomass distribution is shown to be a result but not an unambiguous measure of competition. Expansion of a reciprocal yield model to mixtures of more than two species is illustrated using three species of duckweed. While some caution is recommended, the reciprocal yield analysis applied to data from appropriately designed experiments is a substantial improvement over more traditional methods.

Research paper thumbnail of Use of generalized regression tree models to characterize vegetation favoring Anopheles albimanus breeding

PubMed, Mar 1, 1997

We propose the use of generalized tree models (GTMs) to analyze data from entomological field stu... more We propose the use of generalized tree models (GTMs) to analyze data from entomological field studies. Generalized tree models can be used to characterize environments with different mosquito breeding capacity. A GTM simultaneously analyzes a set of predictor variables (e.g., vegetation coverage) in relation to a response variable (e.g., counts of Anopheles albimanus larvae), and how it varies with respect to a set of criterion variables (e.g., presence of predators). The algorithm produces a treelike graphical display with its root at the top and 2 branches stemming down from each node. At each node, conditions on the value of predictors partition the observations into subgroups (environments) in which the relation between response and criterion variables is most homogeneous.

Research paper thumbnail of Wood chip soil amendments in restored wetlands affect plant growth by reducing compaction and increasing dissolved phenolics

Restoration Ecology, Apr 2, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Enzyme production in the traps of aquatic Utricularia species

Research paper thumbnail of Dynamics of population densities and vegetation associations of Anopheles albimanus larvae in a coastal area of southern Chiapas, Mexico

PubMed, Mar 1, 1993

Spatial and seasonal variations on Anopheles albimanus larval densities and their plant associati... more Spatial and seasonal variations on Anopheles albimanus larval densities and their plant associations were investigated in larval habitats in southern Mexico between April 1989 and May 1990. Thirty-four plant groups were dominant in larval habitats. Dense larval populations were associated with 3 genera of plants, Cynodon, Echinocloa and Fimbristylis and no larvae were found in habitats with Salvinia and Rhizophora. Low significant positive or negative associations were documented with the other 12 plant genera. Larval habitats were classified according to the morphology of their dominant plants. Higher larval densities were observed in the groups characterized by relatively short emergent vegetation. The distribution of habitat-types within 5 identified vegetation units showed a significantly dependent relationship. For the entire study period, highest larval densities were detected in flooded pasture/grassland vegetation units. For all vegetation units, higher larval densities were found when the dominant plant type covered between 25-50% of the breeding site. The integration of data from habitat-types into vegetation units did not result in loss of information.

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization and detection of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula (Diptera: Culicidae) larval habitats in Belize with field survey and SPOT satellite imagery

PubMed, Jun 1, 1998

Surveys of larval habitats of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula were conducted i... more Surveys of larval habitats of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula were conducted in Belize, Central America. Habitat analysis and classification resulted in delineation of eight habitat types defined by dominant life forms and hydrology. Percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, shrubs, open water, and pH were significantly different between sites with and without An. vestitipennis. For An. punctimacula, percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, trees, detritus, open water, and water depth were significantly different between larvae positive and negative sites. The discriminant function for An. vestitipennis correctly predicted the presence of larvae in 65% of sites and correctly predicted the absence of larvae in 88% of sites. The discriminant function for An. punctimacula correctly predicted 81% of sites for the presence of larvae and 45% for the absence of larvae. Canonical discriminant analysis of the three groups of habitats (An. vestitipennis positive; An. punctimacula positive; all negative) confirmed that while larval habitats of An. punctimacula are clustered in the tree dominated area, larval habitats of An. vestitipennis were found in both tree dominated and tall dense macrophyte dominated environments. The forest larval habitats of An. vestitipennis and An. punctimacula seem to be randomly distributed among different forest types. Both species tend to occur in denser forests with more detritus, shallower water, and slightly higher pH. Classification of dry season (February) SPOT multispectral satellite imagery produced 10 land cover types with the swamp forest and tall dense marsh classes being of particular interest. The accuracy assessment showed that commission errors for the tall, dense marsh and swamp forest appeared to be minor; but omission errors were significant, especially for the swamp forest (perhaps because no swamp forests are flooded in February). This means that where the classification indicates there are An. vestitipennis breeding sites, they probably do exist; but breeding sites in many locations are not identified and could be more abundant than indicated.

Research paper thumbnail of Communications: Mosquito Habitats, Land Use, and Malaria Risk in Belize from Satellite Imagery

Research paper thumbnail of Preliminary limnological and botanical characterization of larval habitats for two primary malarial vectors, Anopheles albimanus and An. pseudopunctipennis, in coastal areas of Chiapas State, Mexico

Verhandlungen, Dec 1, 1991

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of Nutrient Limitations and Watershed Inputs on Community Respiration in a Deep, Tropical Lake: Comparison of Pelagic and Littoral Habitats

Water Resources Research, Aug 1, 2018

Research paper thumbnail of Hydrologic alterations impact plant litter decay rate and ecosystem resilience in Mojave wetlands

Restoration Ecology, May 20, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Childhood parasitic infections and gastrointestinal illness in indigenous communities at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala

PeerJ, 2021

Lake Atitlán has experienced a decline in water quality resulting from cultural eutrophication. I... more Lake Atitlán has experienced a decline in water quality resulting from cultural eutrophication. Indigenous Mayans who already face disproportionate health challenges rely directly on the lake water. Our objectives were to: (1) estimate prevalence of shedding of water-borne fecal parasites among children 5 years of age and younger, (2) assess household-reported incidence of gastrointestinal illness in children, and (3) characterize water sources, treatment, and sanitation conditions in households. We hypothesized that household use of untreated lake water results in increased risk of shedding of parasites and gastrointestinal symptoms. A cross-sectional fecal sampling and physical exam of 401 children were conducted along with WASH surveys in partnership with healthcare providers in seven communities. Fecal samples were screened for Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum, using a rapid ELISA, with a portion examined by microscope. The prevalence of parasite shedding was 12.2% (9....

Research paper thumbnail of Bacterial abundance in larval habitats of four species of Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) in Belize, Central America

PubMed, Dec 1, 2000

Numbers of free-living and attached bacteria were counted in surface waters from larval habitats ... more Numbers of free-living and attached bacteria were counted in surface waters from larval habitats of four species of Anopheles mosquitoes: Anopheles albimanus Wiedemann, An. darlingi Root, An. vestitipennis Dyar and Knab, and An. pseudopunctiopennis Theobald, using a direct count method and DAPI staining technique. Bacterial counts from larval habitats were compared to those from adjacent open water. Several additional variables such as total suspended solids (TSS), particulate organic carbon (POC), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were also recorded in order to establish possible relationships with bacterial characteristics. Our results showed that the waters from larval habitats were enriched with bacteria as well as POC and DOC compared to open water. The major component of all samples consisted of cocci, the proportion of rods was similar and there were significantly more attached rods in habitat samples than in open water samples. Anopheles vestitipennis habitats had the highest values of each of the categories of bacteria as well as of POC and DOC.

Research paper thumbnail of Larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes in the Upper Orinoco, Venezuela

PubMed, Dec 1, 1999

Survey of larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes was conducted in Ocamo in the State of Amazona... more Survey of larval habitats of anopheline mosquitoes was conducted in Ocamo in the State of Amazonas, southern Venezuela. The sampled habitats belonged to three different hydrological types: lagoons (26 habitats), forest pools including flooded forest (16 habitats), and forest streams (4 habitats). Out of 46 habitats surveyed, 31 contained anopheline larvae. Six species were found: Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles triannulatus, Anopheles oswaldoi, Anopheles peryassui, Anopheles punctimacula, and Anopheles mediopunctatus. Anopheles triannulatus was the most abundant species. Significantly higher numbers of anopheline larvae, in general, and of An. triannulatus specifically were found in lagoons with submersed macrophytes and sparse emergent graminoids than in forest pools with detritus.

Research paper thumbnail of Characterization of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats

PubMed, Dec 1, 1996

A survey of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats was performed throughout most of its kno... more A survey of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis larval habitats was performed throughout most of its known geographic range. Eleven key environment variables characterized most larval habitats of this important vector of malaria in the Americas. Larval habitats occurred mainly in valley and foothill areas which were often situated in arid regions. Immatures were found primarily during the dry season in sun-exposed freshwater stream pools with clear, shallow, stagnant water containing abundant filamentous green algae and/or aquatic vegetation.

Research paper thumbnail of Limnological and botanical characterization of larval habitats for two primary malarial vectors, Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles pseudopunctipennis, in coastal areas of Chiapas State, Mexico

PubMed, Dec 1, 1990

Field surveys of mosquito breeding sites on the Pacific coastal plain and foothill regions of sou... more Field surveys of mosquito breeding sites on the Pacific coastal plain and foothill regions of southern Chiapas, Mexico, were carried out in the dry and wet seasons of 1988. At each site, selected environmental variables were measured or estimated, presence and percent cover of aquatic plants recorded, a water sample collected for subsequent analyses, and 10-30 dips made for mosquito larvae. Logistic regression and discriminant analyses revealed that the occurrence of Anopheles albimanus larvae in both the wet and dry seasons was positively associated with planktonic algae and negatively associated with altitude. In the dry season, An. albimanus larvae were largely restricted to the margins of permanent water bodies and were associated with the presence of floating plants, particularly Eichhornia crassipes. During the wet season An. albimanus larvae were positively associated with emergent plants, particularly seasonally flooded Cyperaceae, and phosphorus (PO4) concentrations, and were negatively associated with abundant filamentous algae, high levels of total suspended solids (TSS) and Salvinia. In the dry season, An. pseudopunctipennis larvae were positively associated with filamentous algae, altitude and the presence of Heteranthera if encountered in a riverine setting, and were negatively associated with water depth. During the wet season, flooding eliminated typical flood plain An. pseudopunctipennis habitats, and larvae were rarely encountered.

Research paper thumbnail of Use of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems to Predict Locations ofAnopheles darlingi-Positive Breeding Sites Within the Sibun River in Belize, Central America

Journal of Medical Entomology, Mar 1, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Complex phyllosphere microbiome aids in the establishment of the invasive macrophyte <i>Hydrilla verticillata</i> (L.) under conditions of nitrogen scarcity

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Jan 11, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of <sup>15</sup>N as an indicator of N<sub>2</sub>-fixation by cyanobacterial mats in tropical marshes

Biogeochemistry, Feb 1, 2004

Cyanobacterial mats (CBM) are important components of wetland ecosystems in limestone-based regio... more Cyanobacterial mats (CBM) are important components of wetland ecosystems in limestone-based regions of the Caribbean. During two sampling periods (July 1999 and January 2000) we measured N2-fixation in samples from 23 different marshes simultaneously with measurements of relevant environmental factors. Samples were evaluated for abundance of five groups of cyanobacteria: (1) Leptolyngbya, (2) Oscillatoria, (3) Chroococcales, (4) Nostoc-&amp;amp; Stigonematales, and

Research paper thumbnail of Distribution of Anopheles albimanus, Anopheles vestitipennis, and Anopheles crucians Associated with Land Use in Northern Belize

Journal of Medical Entomology, May 1, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Aquatic Vegetation as a Basis for Classification of Anopheles albimanus Weideman (Diptera: Culicidae) Larval Habitats

Environmental Entomology, Jun 1, 1992

... A more-detailed description of the study site is given in Savage et a1.(1990) and Rejmankova ... more ... A more-detailed description of the study site is given in Savage et a1.(1990) and Rejmankova et a1.(1991). ... The follow-ing variables were used for the analysis: water conductivity, permanence-seasonality of the habitat, mean plant height, percentage of emer-gent and floating ...

Research paper thumbnail of Weed-Crop Competition: Experimental Designs and Models for Data Analysis

Weed Science, Mar 1, 1989

Substitutive (replacement) and partial additive experimental designs, with their underlying model... more Substitutive (replacement) and partial additive experimental designs, with their underlying models, remain the two most popular techniques in weed-crop competition studies, despite considerable criticism of these approaches in the recent literature. We review standard designs for two-species competition experiments and demonstrate the advantages of a reciprocal yield model applied to data from an additive series experiment, using mixtures of Japanese millet and tomato. A traditional replacement series analysis failed to provide a general model of competition among these two species over several total plant densities, while an application of a reciprocal yield (inverse linear) model to the same data was successful. This technique allows evaluation of the influences of both weed on crop and crop on weed, as well as the partitioning of net competition effects into intra- and interspecific components. One Japanese millet plant was competitively equivalent to 3.7 tomato plants, as measured by effects on tomato biomass, while one tomato plant was equivalent to 0.14 Japanese millet plants, as measured by effects on millet biomass. Skewness of per plant biomass distribution is shown to be a result but not an unambiguous measure of competition. Expansion of a reciprocal yield model to mixtures of more than two species is illustrated using three species of duckweed. While some caution is recommended, the reciprocal yield analysis applied to data from appropriately designed experiments is a substantial improvement over more traditional methods.

Research paper thumbnail of Use of generalized regression tree models to characterize vegetation favoring Anopheles albimanus breeding

PubMed, Mar 1, 1997

We propose the use of generalized tree models (GTMs) to analyze data from entomological field stu... more We propose the use of generalized tree models (GTMs) to analyze data from entomological field studies. Generalized tree models can be used to characterize environments with different mosquito breeding capacity. A GTM simultaneously analyzes a set of predictor variables (e.g., vegetation coverage) in relation to a response variable (e.g., counts of Anopheles albimanus larvae), and how it varies with respect to a set of criterion variables (e.g., presence of predators). The algorithm produces a treelike graphical display with its root at the top and 2 branches stemming down from each node. At each node, conditions on the value of predictors partition the observations into subgroups (environments) in which the relation between response and criterion variables is most homogeneous.

Research paper thumbnail of Wood chip soil amendments in restored wetlands affect plant growth by reducing compaction and increasing dissolved phenolics

Restoration Ecology, Apr 2, 2019

Research paper thumbnail of Enzyme production in the traps of aquatic Utricularia species

Research paper thumbnail of Dynamics of population densities and vegetation associations of Anopheles albimanus larvae in a coastal area of southern Chiapas, Mexico

PubMed, Mar 1, 1993

Spatial and seasonal variations on Anopheles albimanus larval densities and their plant associati... more Spatial and seasonal variations on Anopheles albimanus larval densities and their plant associations were investigated in larval habitats in southern Mexico between April 1989 and May 1990. Thirty-four plant groups were dominant in larval habitats. Dense larval populations were associated with 3 genera of plants, Cynodon, Echinocloa and Fimbristylis and no larvae were found in habitats with Salvinia and Rhizophora. Low significant positive or negative associations were documented with the other 12 plant genera. Larval habitats were classified according to the morphology of their dominant plants. Higher larval densities were observed in the groups characterized by relatively short emergent vegetation. The distribution of habitat-types within 5 identified vegetation units showed a significantly dependent relationship. For the entire study period, highest larval densities were detected in flooded pasture/grassland vegetation units. For all vegetation units, higher larval densities were found when the dominant plant type covered between 25-50% of the breeding site. The integration of data from habitat-types into vegetation units did not result in loss of information.