Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Stephanie J. Galla, Boise State University
Additional Funding Sources
This research was supported by the Soaring Scholarship from the Raptor Research Center at Boise State University and the NSF BRC-BIO Program (OIA-2242769).
Presentation Date
7-16-2026
Abstract
Climate change in the Arctic is accelerating more rapidly than the rest of the globe, changing the disease ecology within arctic systems. A prime example of this are disease carrying mosquitoes (Family: Culicidae) expanding their range and overlapping with different animal hosts. To better ascertain the changing disease ecology in the Arctic, methods to identify disease vectors—like mosquitoes—are needed to understand how this complex and shifting vector and host network will impact immunologically naive Arctic Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus). This ongoing study aims to identify mosquitoes collected from Gyrfalcon nests in Nome, Alaska to species level and to test the mosquitoes for avian diseases including avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.), avian influenza, and trichomoniasis. Collected mosquitoes were sorted into sex, genera, and morphotype based on visual characteristics and preestablished dichotomous keys. Preliminary results indicate that the collected mosquitoes are nearly all female (99.3%) and all of the genus Aedes. Due to the damaged condition of the mosquitoes we opted to identify the mosquitoes to species level by amplifying the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from 81 mosquitoes. To determine if Plasmodium is present in the mosquitoes, we employed a nested PCR approach to amplify the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) in mosquito body samples. To date, Plasmodium has not been amplified in our mosquito samples, although a qPCR approach might provide more resolution for this question. The next steps in this will be to sequence the samples with Sanger sequencing and use the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) to identify the mosquitoes to species level. This work will contribute to tracking the spread of avian disease in Arctic systems and identify mosquito vector species in order to provide foundational information for understanding disease risk in Gyrfalcons amidst climate change.
Characterizing Mosquito Species to Understand Disease Ecology of Gyrfalcons in Nome, Alaska
Climate change in the Arctic is accelerating more rapidly than the rest of the globe, changing the disease ecology within arctic systems. A prime example of this are disease carrying mosquitoes (Family: Culicidae) expanding their range and overlapping with different animal hosts. To better ascertain the changing disease ecology in the Arctic, methods to identify disease vectors—like mosquitoes—are needed to understand how this complex and shifting vector and host network will impact immunologically naive Arctic Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus). This ongoing study aims to identify mosquitoes collected from Gyrfalcon nests in Nome, Alaska to species level and to test the mosquitoes for avian diseases including avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.), avian influenza, and trichomoniasis. Collected mosquitoes were sorted into sex, genera, and morphotype based on visual characteristics and preestablished dichotomous keys. Preliminary results indicate that the collected mosquitoes are nearly all female (99.3%) and all of the genus Aedes. Due to the damaged condition of the mosquitoes we opted to identify the mosquitoes to species level by amplifying the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from 81 mosquitoes. To determine if Plasmodium is present in the mosquitoes, we employed a nested PCR approach to amplify the mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) in mosquito body samples. To date, Plasmodium has not been amplified in our mosquito samples, although a qPCR approach might provide more resolution for this question. The next steps in this will be to sequence the samples with Sanger sequencing and use the basic local alignment search tool (BLAST) to identify the mosquitoes to species level. This work will contribute to tracking the spread of avian disease in Arctic systems and identify mosquito vector species in order to provide foundational information for understanding disease risk in Gyrfalcons amidst climate change.