How would the extinction of mosquitoes affect the environment?

If mosquitoes were eradicated from the planet, hundreds of species of fish would have to change their diet. Aquatic entomologist, Richard Merritt, warns that some fish could actually go extinct. Without these fish, the food chain would be disrupted in both directions.

What environmental factors affect mosquitoes?

Many larval environmental factors have a profound effect on the well-being of the adult mosquito. These include the environmental temperature, the level of crowding and access to nutrition. Human activity, however, has resulted in increased levels of water pollution, and mosquito larvae being exposed to more toxins.

Do mosquitoes impact the environment?

Mosquitoes can have both positive and negative impacts on the ecosystem. As part of their useful role, the larvae of mosquitoes live in water and provide food for fish and other wildlife, including larger larvae of other species such as dragonflies.

Why do mosquitoes breed in water?

Mosquito Breeding Habits Mosquitoes feed on the many kinds of particulate matter that occur in water. While water is the source of mosquito food, it also creates the possibility that aquatic-stage mosquitoes may become food for other animals, such as fish.

Why are mosquitoes important to the environment?

While they can seem pointless and purely irritating to us humans, mosquitoes do play a substantial role in the ecosystem. Mosquitoes form an important source of biomass in the food chain—serving as food for fish as larvae and for birds, bats and frogs as adult flies—and some species are important pollinators.

How do mosquitoes fit into the ecosystem?

Larval mosquitoes contribute to aquatic food chains by serving as food sources for many predators, including fish and birds. Adult mosquitoes that die (or are eaten and excreted) then decompose, turning the microbes they consumed as larvae into nutrients for plants, completing another important ecological function.

What would happen if mosquitoes disappeared from the Earth?

In fact, if mosquitoes were to disappear, the other insects and fish that feed on them would dwindle in number, which could cause a ripple effect throughout the food chain [source: Misra ]. However, some scientists predict that while some animals would go hungry, it wouldn’t spell disaster.

Are mosquitoes good or bad for the environment?

Science writer David Quammen has argued that mosquitoes have limited the destructive impact of humanity on nature. “Mosquitoes make tropical rainforests, for humans, virtually uninhabitable,” he said. Rainforests, home to a large share of our total plant and animal species, are under serious threat from man-made destruction.

Does eliminating mosquitoes affect plant growth?

When other insects drown in the water, the midges chew up their carcasses and the mosquito larvae feed on the waste products, making nutrients such as nitrogen available for the plant. In this case, eliminating mosquitoes might affect plant growth.

What ecosystem does not depend on mosquitoes?

No ecosystem depends on any mosquito to the point that it would collapse if they were to disappear. An exception may be the Arctic, but the species there are non-vectors and thus can be left alone. Granted, we are making assumptions here.