| Risk Assessment and Management Solutions for Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases |
RAMS-AID Research - Mosquitoes and West Nile Virus disease in Colorado
Climate change, Culex tarsalis and West Nile virus disease in Colorado
There is clear potential for climate warming to result in changes in spatial presence and abundance patterns of Culex tarsalis in Colorado
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2) Mean summer temperature decreases with elevation 
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| 3) We speculate that a realistic future climate warming scenario resulting in mean daily summer temperature increases of 2–4 °F would cause a shift toward current temperature conditions in the future occurring at elevations 600–1,300 ft higher than today in Poudre Canyon. This would most likely result in both expansion in the range of Cx. tarsalis toward higher elevations in this and other areas of Colorado and increased mosquito abundance near the current upper altitudinal (climate) limit where Cx. tarsalis now is present but scarce. Another factor that may play a big role for future spatial patterns of risk of exposure to Cx. tarsalis is decreasing snowpacks and subsequent deacreases in flooding activity at lower elevations. 4) The Colorado Front Range is exceptionally well suited for long–term studies on the effect of climate warming on spatial patterns of distribution and abundance of Cx. tarsalis and spatial patterns of presence of WNV in local mosquito populations. |