Mosquitoes of southern England and northern Wales : identification, ecology and host selection

As early as 1901, ecological and epidemiological studies were conducted to understand malaria transmission in the UK. Unfortunately, following the eradication of malaria after WWII, ecological studies on local mosquito species has been intermittent, leading to a significant gap in knowledge of the current habitat preference, distribution and vector capabilities of the 33 recorded species. This lack of current information makes the assessment of possible transmission of enzoonotic diseases such as Chikungunya and West Nile virus in UK difficult. Thus the overall purpose of this thesis was to facilitate the identification of potential vector species through the documentation and characterisation of the ecology of adult and larval stages, and the host selection of British mosquitoes, in southern England and northern Wales. A total of 13 out the 33 documented species are assessed in this study. Of which members of the Maculipennis and Pipiens Group comprised the bulk of the adult and immature collections respectively. The development of the ITS2 PCR-RFLP assay in this study allowed the identification of the three members of the Maculipennis Group, which revealed the widespread occurrence of the recently documented An. daciae in almost all localities sampled. While previously published assays discriminating the Pipiens Complex, did not yield congruent results questioning the prior identification methods and the validity of the taxonomic status of its members. In addition, host-specific primers designed herein to determine host selection in local mosquitoes revealed an indiscriminate host selection by An. atroparvus, An. daciae, An. messeae and Cx. pipiens thus indicating their potential role as vectors in the UK.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Comparison of mosquito and fly derived DNA as a tool for sampling vertebrate biodiversity in suburban forests in Berlin, Germany

The use of invertebrate‐derived DNA (iDNA) is a promising non‐invasive tool to monitor wildlife. While most studies have been carried out in dense tropical and sub‐tropical forests and have focused on the use of a single category of invertebrates, this study compares the use of flies and mosquitoes‐derived DNA to assess vertebrate diversity in semi‐urban environments. We conducted our sampling in four different forest plots in Berlin, Germany. Pools of flies and non‐bloodfed mosquitoes were metabarcoded using 108‐bp vertebrate‐specific 12 S rRNA (12 S‐V5) and 94‐bp mammal‐specific 16 S rRNA (16Smam) mitochondrial markers, and individual bloodfed mosquitoes were sequenced using the 340‐bp vertebrate‐specific 12 S rRNA fragment (Mam‐12 S‐340). Most sequencing was only successful for mammal species. From the fly pools, we detected 10 mammal species using 16Smam, and six species using 12 S‐V5. From the non‐bloodfed mosquito pools, we only amplified putative contaminant DNA, indicating that mosquito females without visual signs of a blood meal carry no traces of vertebrate DNA. Finally, in the bloodfed mosquitoes, we identified four mammal species. We did not find significant differences in the proportion of mammal species detected regarding the total available number of species between sampling localities. Fly samples were easier to obtain and more abundant over the sampled localities compared to mosquito samples. We conclude that, while there are a few advantages in using mosquito blood meals, the use of flies in the detection of wildlife in a suburban environment is more effective in terms of collection of samples and detection of vertebrates, although this technique is limited to few mammal species in the urban environment

White Paper: Umgang mit Zielen der BLV als Grundlage für die Strukturevaluation

In der Bund-Länder-Vereinbarung (BLV) zu Aufbau und Förderung einer Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) (im Folgenden BLV-NFDI) wird in §1 festgehalten, dass mit der Förderung 'eine Etablierung und Fortentwicklung eines übergreifenden Forschungsdatenmanagements' und damit eine 'Steigerung der Effizienz des gesamten Wissenschaftssystems verfolgt' wird. In der BLV-NFDI werden dazu sieben Ziele vorgegeben, die eine Verfeinerung dieser Hauptziele darstellen. Dieses White Paper formuliert das gemeinsame Verständnis der beteiligten Konsortien für die sieben in der BLV-NFDI vorgegebenen Ziele. Auf der Grundlage dieses Verständnisses hat die Task Force Evaluation und Reporting Vorschläge gemacht, wie das Erreichen der Ziele erfasst, beschrieben und gemessen werden kann

White Paper: Umgang mit Zielen der BLV als Grundlage für die Strukturevaluation

In der Bund-Länder-Vereinbarung (BLV) zu Aufbau und Förderung einer Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) (im Folgenden BLV-NFDI) wird in §1 festgehalten, dass mit der Förderung "eine Etablierung und Fortentwicklung eines übergreifenden Forschungsdatenmanagements" und damit eine "Steigerung der Effizienz des gesamten Wissenschaftssystems verfolgt" wird. In der BLV-NFDI werden dazu sieben Ziele vorgegeben, die eine Verfeinerung dieser Hauptziele darstellen. Dieses White Paper formuliert das gemeinsame Verständnis der beteiligten Konsortien für die sieben in der BLV-NFDI vorgegebenen Ziele. Auf der Grundlage dieses Verständnisses hat die Task Force Evaluation und Reporting Vorschläge gemacht, wie das Erreichen der Ziele erfasst, beschrieben und gemessen werden kann

Collaborative work in NFDI

The non-profit association National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) promotes science and research through a National Research Data Infrastructure. Its aim is to develop and establish an overarching research data management (RDM) for Germany and to increase the efficiency of the entire German science system. After a two-and-a-half year build up phase, the process of adding new consortia, each representing a different data domain, has ended in March 2023. NFDI now has 26 disciplinary consortia (and one additional basic service collaboration). Now the full extent of cross-consortial interaction is beginning to show. The attached table of jointly documented cross-consortial collaborations is based on a White Paper ratified by the NFDI association’s consortia assembly in January 2023. It defines collaborations as “the exchange of information on or development of common approaches to managing the research data of at least one domain.” From the perspective of the consortia assembly, “A necessary condition for any collaboration is that activities are on behalf and in line with the strategic aims of a consortium and are not activities by individuals within them only.” As the consortia were established in three separate rounds with roughly a year in between, some consortia have had more opportunities to participate in the NFDI association than others which shows in their higher levels of interaction. We expect these differences to diminish over time with further updates of this dataset. The tabular overview of the collaborations was created as a collaborative work in which all consortia had the opportunity to enter joint activities. Nevertheless, this document does not claim to be complete. Instead, it should be understood as a first version; future collaboration will be added and the document will be published in updated versions

Collaborative work in NFDI

The non-profit association National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) promotes science and research through a National Research Data Infrastructure. Its aim is to develop and establish an overarching research data management (RDM) for Germany and to increase the efficiency of the entire German science system. After a two-and-a-half year build up phase, the process of adding new consortia, each representing a different data domain, has ended in March 2023. NFDI now has 26 disciplinary consortia (and one additional basic service collaboration). Now the full extent of cross-consortial interaction is beginning to show

White Paper: Umgang mit Zielen der BLV als Grundlage für die Strukturevaluation

<p>In der <a href="https://www.gwk-bonn.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Dokumente/Papers/NFDI.pdf">Bund-Länder-Vereinbarung (BLV) zu Aufbau und Förderung einer Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI)</a> (im Folgenden BLV-NFDI) wird in §1 festgehalten, dass mit der Förderung "eine Etablierung und Fortentwicklung eines übergreifenden Forschungsdatenmanagements" und damit eine "Steigerung der Effizienz des gesamten Wissenschaftssystems verfolgt" wird. In der BLV-NFDI werden dazu sieben Ziele vorgegeben, die eine Verfeinerung dieser Hauptziele darstellen. Dieses White Paper formuliert das gemeinsame Verständnis der beteiligten Konsortien für die sieben in der BLV-NFDI vorgegebenen Ziele. Auf der Grundlage dieses Verständnisses hat die Task Force Evaluation und Reporting Vorschläge gemacht, wie das Erreichen der Ziele erfasst, beschrieben und gemessen werden kann.</p&gt

White Paper: Interim report reference

This White Paper sets out commonly agreed definitions on activities of consortia within NFDI. It aims to provide a common basis for reporting and reference regarding selected questions of cross-consortial relevance in DFG’s template for the Interim Reports. The questions were prioritised by an NFDI Task Force on Evaluation and Reporting (formerly Task Force Monitoring) as a result of discussing possible answers to the DFG template. In this process the need to agree on a generalizable meaning of terms commonly used in the context of NFDI, and reporting in particular, were identified from cross-consortial perspectives. Questions that showed the highest requirement on clarification are discussed in this White Paper. As NFDI evolves, the Task Force will likely propose further joint approaches for reporting in information infrastructures. While each of broad relevance, the questions addressed relate to substantially different aspects of consortia’s work. They are thus also structured slightly different