Skip to content
Ecological Intelligence

Ecological evidence.
Independent perspective.
Explore Wild Lands ↗

Ecological Intelligence / Subject

vector ecology

Peer-reviewed Europe

Northern Italy’s sand flies carry a recurring Wolbachia lineage that databases do not yet match

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
Northern Italy
System
Vector / peri-urban and rural habitats

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers screened 1,937 sand flies in 124 pools collected from 24 sites during 2023–2025. Overall Wolbachia prevalence was estimated at 38.7%, with strong year-to-year variation. Eleven complete MLST profiles, all from Phlebotomus perniciosus, belonged to Supergroup B and shared an identical profile that had no exact match in public databases.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

Natural symbiont surveillance can reveal biological structure that standard vector datasets miss. The result is a foundation for asking whether this lineage changes sand-fly reproduction or pathogen transmission, not evidence that it already provides a control tool.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

Prevalence was estimated from pooled samples and varied by year. The study characterized infection and phylogeny; it did not test effects on vector competence, pathogen transmission, survival or the feasibility of Wolbachia-based control.

SOURCE

Parasites & Vectors — primary study
View original evidence ↗

Screening 1,937 sand flies found substantial natural Wolbachia occurrence, while 11 complete profiles from Phlebotomus perniciosus were identical and lacked an exact public-database match.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →
Peer-reviewed Africa

Mangroves and malaria move in opposite directions depending on what “more mangrove” means

Evidence
Peer-reviewed
Geography
Coastal settlements across 27 African countries
System
Mangrove and coastal socio-ecological systems

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS

Researchers combined 11 years of malaria prevalence records with satellite-derived mangrove cover, vegetation greenness and weather data across 27 African countries. At coarse spatial resolution, greater mangrove land cover was associated with lower malaria prevalence; at both fine and coarse scales, greater mangrove greenness was associated with higher prevalence.

WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ

The result breaks the simplistic argument that mangroves are either disease-promoting mosquito habitat or automatically health-protective ecosystems. Disease risk depends on forest configuration, vegetation condition, vectors, hosts and scale, so conservation and public-health management need to be designed together.

CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY

This is a continent-wide observational analysis using structural-equation models, not experimental evidence that changing mangrove extent or greenness will cause a particular malaria outcome. Mechanisms, vector species and local contexts vary substantially.

SOURCE

Global Change Biology · Original evidence
View original evidence ↗

Across 27 African countries, greater mangrove extent correlated with lower malaria prevalence while greener vegetation correlated with higher prevalence—an explicitly observational, scale-sensitive result.

Read the Wild Lands assessment →

Keep exploring

Follow the systems. Find the connections.

WildlifeLandWaterOceansClimateCitiesOne HealthGovernanceMethods / Monitoring
Browse the archive →