Ecological impact assessment of abate on Florida state lands saltmarsh communities. Year-2 final report.

Abstract

This report describes results of year two of a three year project that was initiated in 1995 to address the concern for possible adverse ecological impact from applications of the mosquito larvicide, abate (temephos) on State-owned saltmarsh lands adjacent to Cape Coral, Florida. The study was performed in cooperation with the Lee County Mosquito Control District who is responsible for controlling mosquito populations impacting residential areas adjacent to the State owned, saltmarsh lands, and the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the agency responsible for the State lands. Because of the extreme conditions of the marsh environment, only the benthic macroinvertebrate community provided sufficient abundance and diversity to allow statistical comparisons before and after larvicide application, and for comparison of exposure relative to control sites.