| Mosquito control by the Suffolk Division
of Vector Control includes the management of both freshwater
wetlands and salt marshes. Freshwater wetlands are categorized
into communities that reflect differences in geology, vegetation,
and tidal influence. Freshwater wetlands
include tidal (found at the
mouths of large tidal rivers), riverine
(riverside wetlands), lacustrine
(lakes and ponds), and palustrine
wetlands (freshwater swamps, marshes and bogs).
Salt marshes are in general more
uniform in character than freshwater wetlands. However, salt
marshes do differ in the degree to which environmental and
anthropogenic impacts have influenced them. Salt
marsh health is discussed below as it pertains to wetland
management for mosquito control.
Salt marshes and freshwater wetlands were selected from the
north and south shores of Suffolk County as well as inland
for study as “Primary Study
Areas” (PSAs). These 21 wetlands were chosen because
of their exceptional environmental quality or for their value
as archetypes for other sites in the County. Each PSA was
also important to the County’s vector control program
as a known mosquito breeding area, a site managed by the Division
of Vector Control, or a control site for the purposes of this
project.
|
Integrated Mosquito Management
