MOSPREMA: Prediction and management of mosquito calamities for biodiversity conservation in floodplain forests

The essence of the project is to use modern geo-information methods and current knowledge to create new procedures for integrated management to minimize annually recurring calamitous mosquito populations, with special attention to the conservation of biodiversity in Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area (PLA). The project’s objectives are following the State Environmental Policy of the Czech Republic 2030 with a view to 2050, as well as the Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Czech Republic. An advanced landscape model, which will be created using continuously updated sensor and image data, will concentrate and evaluate knowledge about the landscape, record planned and implemented interventions, and predict the state of the territory in terms of the risk of calamity. With the precautionary principle in mind, the concentration of larvicides will be reduced. The application of larvicides will be more precise, thereby significantly reducing the input of foreign substances into the floodplain forest habitat. The selective application will maintain the necessary presence of mosquitoes in the floodplain forest ecosystem. They are part of the food chain for many important organisms (fish, birds, bats). The decrease of this group can lead to a significant impact on the life cycle of associated predators of other organisms. The target group is the inhabitants of the communities living in the vicinity of the PLA. With developed management, it will be possible to control calamity conditions according to strategic documents. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology partner will help to implement contemporary knowledge about the Citizen Science approach and bring valuable experience in developing a prediction model responding to climate change.