Local Ecology Research Articles

Remaking the Future Studies of Global Small-Scale Fisheries; Bibliometric Analysis Findings Between 1965 and 2020

Small-scale fisheries (SSF) have long been recognized as critical to many facets of human life. SSF-related bibliometric studies have focused on specific topics, including marine protected areas and sustainable utilization. Since SSF is associated with numerous dimensions of life, a comprehensive bibliometric study is required. This study aims to analyze and visualize state of the art in SSF research using bibliometric analysis on articles published between 1965 and 2020 obtained from the Scopus database in August 2021. Harzing's Publish or Perish, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel software were used to fulfill the objectives. The findings indicate that SSF research, more prevalent in the areas of Agricultural and Biological Sciences, grew slowly from 1965 to 1997 before increasing. Initially, the publication themes were bio-ecological before associated with management concerns and evolving into a more socio-economic tone. With an average of 35.75 citations per year, Allison and Ellis's 2001’s article was the most cited paper. In terms of total publication, Brazil and The University of British Columbia were the most productive countries and affiliations (210 and 42 articles, respectively). SFF's future research should prioritize local fisheries ecology and resources assessment, as well as addressing cross-disciplinary issues such as socio-ecological system resilience. Collaborations between authors from different countries and institutions are also more expected.

Evolutionary trends and goal directedness.

The conventional wisdom declares that evolution is not goal directed, that teleological considerations play no part in our understanding of evolutionary trends. Here I argue that, to the contrary, under a current view of teleology, field theory, most evolutionary trends would have to be considered goal directed to some degree. Further, this view is consistent with a modern scientific outlook, and more particularly with evolutionary theory today. Field theory argues that goal directedness is produced by higher-level fields that direct entities contained within them to behave persistently and plastically, that is, returning them to a goal-directed trajectory following perturbations (persistence) and directing them to a goal-directed trajectory from a large range of alternative starting points (plasticity). The behavior of a bacterium climbing a chemical food gradient is persistent and plastic, with guidance provided by the external "food field," the chemical gradient. Likewise, an evolutionary trend that is produced by natural selection is a lineage behaving persistently and plastically under the direction of its local ecology, an "ecological field." Trends directed by selection-generated boundaries, thermodynamic gradients, and certain internal constraints, would also count as goal directed. In other words, most of the causes of evolutionary trends that have been proposed imply goal directedness. However, under field theory, not all trends are goal directed. Examples are discussed. Importantly, nothing in this view suggests that evolution is guided by intentionality, at least none at the level of animal intentionality. Finally, possible implications for our thinking about evolutionary directionality in the history of life are discussed.

Taking It to the States: The Origins of Critical Information Needs

This article provides a firsthand account of research conducted for the Federal Communications Commission in connection with its inquiry into communities’ critical information needs and how well they were being met by local news and information sources. I detail the industry and political pressures brought to bear in opposition to that inquiry and the extent to which opposition to this kind of research undermines the development of prosocial local information ecologies. Finally, I discuss what can be done to develop research in this vein and shore up local information needs.

Delegitimizing Rural Public Health Departments: How Decaying Local News Ecologies, Misinformation, and Radicalization Undermine Community Storytelling Networks

This article considers the public communication challenges that health officials in rural America faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. I analyze the role that public health officials played in communicating news and information about the pandemic in 29 rural counties in Illinois. These officials were challenged by a diminished reporting capacity among local media outlets, and by a political radicalization of local Republicans, who no longer regarded local media as trusted nodes in local storytelling networks. I find that while public health officials can help fill a community’s critical information needs about risk and emergency, the public’s take-up of this information depends on sociocultural and political forces that shape the broader communication context.

Improving the Predeveloped Local Ecology: Maximizing Condensate Collection through Strategic Building Operation

Improving the Predeveloped Local Ecology: Maximizing Condensate Collection through Strategic Building Operation

Anthropological Study of a Typical Drought-Prone Village in India: Strategies for Sustainable Rural Habitat

Drought-prone villages are constantly facing the challenges of agricultural productivity, lack of alternative livelihood opportunities due to ecological vulnerability, predominance of wasteland, inadequate water supply, and absence of physical and socio-cultural infrastructure. The study aims to develop a comprehensive policy framework to mitigate the socio-economic and environmental issues against the threat. The methodology comprises an anthropological study from micro to macro level to synthesize the dynamics of drought in the economic, ecological, and socio-cultural indices of a typical agrarian village of Purulia District in West Bengal, India. The results illustrate ecological susceptibility such as extreme climatic condition, futile wasteland cover, rocky undulating landform, top soil erosion, and human-made contingencies including deforestation, absence of water conservation practices, over utilization of existing water bodies resulting in water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and absence of major agrarian livelihood. Lack of alternative livelihood practices such as agro-forestry and non-farm activities, appropriate knowledge regarding drought mitigation, sustainable living practices, inadequate physical infrastructure. and pressing issues in housing with population growth results in degradation of socio-economic profile of the residents, loss of natural resource. and poor socio-spatial livability quotient. It also increases the risk of habitat loss with regular drought occurrence. The study can be further adapted and strengthened according to varied rural settlements according to their geographical context, climatic vulnerability, predominant livelihood contingencies, and socio-cultural resonance. Most research in this domain focuses on the geophysical and meteorological parameters while the anthropo-geographical aspects such as local ecology, indigenous livelihood patterns, and native strategies of drought management are largely overlooked. The policy framework has been suggested to facilitate an integrated measure for the ecological and economic sustainability against drought with diversified livelihood opportunities, environmental upgradation, and augmentation of physical infrastructure. This policy can be further strengthened with retrofitting strategies of housing for future expansion and optimization of socio-cultural spaces to foster a sustainable economy, cohesive socio-cultural well-being, and resource optimization.

The (ecologically) imperial mode of sport at the exterminist stage of capitalism: Counter stories of Dakar Rally's ride in South America (2009–2019)

This paper explores the voices of resistance against the Dakar Rally's decade-long operation in South America. Drawing upon the three-prong framework of environmental justice (EJ), the analysis showcases how the less powerful stakeholders in the hosting countries articulated the deleterious consequences caused by the event to the local communities and ecologies. Moreover, by situating the Dakar Rally's expeditions in South America within the global capitalist economy, the paper explains why the most prestigious car rally is an exemplary manifestation of ecological imperialism, as it is not only a showcase of unsustainable industries (represented by fossil-fuel vehicles) with European colonial hubris but also a newer stage of an ongoing centuries-old process of extracting ecological resources from the Global South to benefit the increasingly mobile, vampire-like transnational capital.

Characteristic Tests for Waste Mud and Drilling Sludge and Reuse of Solidification from Plateau Ecological Reserve

The global community has recently increased its efforts for sustainability and environmental protection. “Green Building” and “Green Construction” are the two methods of incorporating these environmental concerns into the construction and maintenance of mega infrastructures and highways with the intention of reducing any environmental impact that the infrastructures may have on the local ecosystems and ecology. This paper delves into one such study based on the Qinghai–Jiaxi Highway, which is currently under construction in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. A water treatment method for construction-related mud and sludge is presented as a solution to prevent environmental contamination in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Several tests are performed on samples collected from the Qinghai–Jiaxi Highway to check the feasibility of this method. Several tests, such as X-ray diffraction, a chemical composition analysis, pH tests, mud density, and quality assessments, are performed for this purpose. Following these tests, mud sample mixtures are strengthened with concrete, and their suitability as a filler for road bases is evaluated using compression tests, in accordance with the GB50107 standard. The test results show that the concrete blocks have a compression strength of 35 MPA, which is well within the required standards. The proposed method helps to reduce the harmful discharges from construction sites into the local ecosystems and can potentially reduce the effluent matter in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and Ecological Reserve.

Developing guidance for the application of Natural and Nature Based Features (NNBF) on developed shores: A case study from New Jersey, USA

Developed shorelines represent a significant proportion (14%) of the world’s shorelines. Historically these shores have been tamed or hardened using a variety of engineering interventions. Often these interventions have negative impacts on the local ecology. New Jersey (USA) is the most densely populated state in the United States, and not surprisingly has one of the highest percentages (34%) of hardened shorelines. In 2013, New Jersey created a set of engineering guidelines to promote the use of living shorelines and natural and nature-based features (NNBF) in the state. Like most similar documents, the guidance focused on more natural, estuarine, and bay shorelines. Recognizing that many of the traditional NNBF techniques described in the guidelines were less appropriate for developed shorelines, the state recently created a separate set of guidelines for developed shores. That document synthesizes information from peer-reviewed and gray literature, with lessons learned from six case studies to generate guidance for the application of NNBF along the developed shores of New Jersey. The resulting guidance is founded on three core Guiding Principles: (1) Maintain/Restore Natural areas, (2) Design for Resilience and Adaptability, (3) Monitor and Assess; and six recommended Design Elements: (1) Allow Light Penetration, (2) Use Alternative Materials, (3) Increase Surface Roughness, (4) Increase Water Retention, (5) Reduce Slope, and (6) Introduce Curvature. The guidance recommends that all developed shoreline NNBF projects in the state adhere to the Guiding Principles and that they consider applying the Design Elements where appropriate. This article provides an overview of these guidelines in hope of encouraging more NNBF projects on developed coasts and provide a clearer starting point for the design of those NNBF projects.

Fine-scale mapping of urban malaria exposure under data scarcity: an approach centred on vector ecology

BackgroundAlthough malaria transmission has experienced an overall decline in sub-Saharan Africa, urban malaria is now considered an emerging health issue due to rapid and uncontrolled urbanization and the adaptation of vectors to urban environments. Fine-scale hazard and exposure maps are required to support evidence-based policies and targeted interventions, but data-driven predictive spatial modelling is hindered by gaps in epidemiological and entomological data. A knowledge-based geospatial framework is proposed for mapping the heterogeneity of urban malaria hazard and exposure under data scarcity. It builds on proven geospatial methods, implements open-source algorithms, and relies heavily on vector ecology knowledge and the involvement of local experts.MethodsA workflow for producing fine-scale maps was systematized, and most processing steps were automated. The method was evaluated through its application to the metropolitan area of Dakar, Senegal, where urban transmission has long been confirmed. Urban malaria exposure was defined as the contact risk between adult Anopheles vectors (the hazard) and urban population and accounted for socioeconomic vulnerability by including the dimension of urban deprivation that is reflected in the morphology of the built-up fabric. Larval habitat suitability was mapped through a deductive geospatial approach involving the participation of experts with a strong background in vector ecology and validated with existing geolocated entomological data. Adult vector habitat suitability was derived through a similar process, based on dispersal from suitable breeding site locations. The resulting hazard map was combined with a population density map to generate a gridded urban malaria exposure map at a spatial resolution of 100 m.ResultsThe identification of key criteria influencing vector habitat suitability, their translation into geospatial layers, and the assessment of their relative importance are major outcomes of the study that can serve as a basis for replication in other sub-Saharan African cities. Quantitative validation of the larval habitat suitability map demonstrates the reliable performance of the deductive approach, and the added value of including local vector ecology experts in the process. The patterns displayed in the hazard and exposure maps reflect the high degree of heterogeneity that exists throughout the city of Dakar and its suburbs, due not only to the influence of environmental factors, but also to urban deprivation.ConclusionsThis study is an effort to bring geospatial research output closer to effective support tools for local stakeholders and decision makers. Its major contributions are the identification of a broad set of criteria related to vector ecology and the systematization of the workflow for producing fine-scale maps. In a context of epidemiological and entomological data scarcity, vector ecology knowledge is key for mapping urban malaria exposure. An application of the framework to Dakar showed its potential in this regard. Fine-grained heterogeneity was revealed by the output maps, and besides the influence of environmental factors, the strong links between urban malaria and deprivation were also highlighted.

Host Microbiome Threats in the Intensive Care Unit

Human microbiota demonstrate diversity and balance that is adaptive for the host and supports maintaining homeostasis. Although acute illness or injury may derange microbiota diversity and the proportion of potentially pathogenic microbes, that derangement may be further exacerbated by commonly deployed intensive care unit (ICU) therapeutic and practices. These include antibiotic administration, delayed luminal nutrition, acid suppression, and vasopressor infusion. Furthermore, the local ICU microbial ecology, regardless of disinfection practices, shapes the patient's microbiota, especially with the acquisition of multi-drug-resistant pathogens. Current approaches to protect a normal microbiome, or restore a deranged one, are part of a multifaceted approach that may include antibiotic stewardship and infection control practices as microbiome-directed therapeutics emerge.

South drying and north wetting over the Tibetan Plateau modulated by a zonal temperature dipole across timescales

Precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding highlands is a crucial process in the hydrological cycle and is very important for local and downstream ecology, and previous research mainly focused on a certain range of timescales. A better understanding of the variability across various timescales, which has been largely ignored, can provide new insight on the regional weather and climate. Here, a north‒south dipole pattern of precipitation shaped by a zonal dipole of the upper-tropospheric temperature is revealed in this region. Both dipole patterns of the precipitation and the accompanied temperature exist from daily to interdecadal scales. The three-dimensional circulation anomalies connecting the temperature and precipitation dipoles are consistent across various timescales. The frequencies of daily events with opposite phases of the temperature dipole modulate the interannual and interdecadal variability in precipitation. The south drying and north wetting pattern over the Tibetan Plateau is an interdecadal manifestation of the precipitation dipole and can be ascribed to the temperature trend favourable for the positive phase of the zonal temperature dipole. The consistent dipole pattern constructs a more complete portrayal of precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau from synoptic scale to climatology.

Variations and gradients between methane seep and off-seep microbial communities in a submarine canyon system in the Northeast Pacific.

Methane seeps are highly abundant marine habitats that contribute sources of chemosynthetic primary production to marine ecosystems. Seeps also factor into the global budget of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Because of these factors, methane seeps influence not only local ocean ecology, but also biogeochemical cycles on a greater scale. Methane seeps host specialized microbial communities that vary significantly based on geography, seep gross morphology, biogeochemistry, and a diversity of other ecological factors including cross-domain species interactions. In this study, we collected sediment cores from six seep and non-seep locations from Grays and Quinault Canyons (46-47°N) off Washington State, USA, as well as one non-seep site off the coast of Oregon, USA (45°N) to quantify the scale of seep influence on biodiversity within marine habitats. These samples were profiled using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Predicted gene functions were generated using the program PICRUSt2, and the community composition and predicted functions were compared among samples. The microbial communities at seeps varied by seep morphology and habitat, whereas the microbial communities at non-seep sites varied by water depth. Microbial community composition and predicted gene function clearly transitioned from on-seep to off-seep in samples collected from transects moving away from seeps, with a clear ecotone and high diversity where methane-fueled habitats transition into the non-seep deep sea. Our work demonstrates the microbial and metabolic sphere of influence that extends outwards from methane seep habitats.

What to Do with the New Antibiotics?

Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria-related infections have become a real public health problem and have exposed the risk of a therapeutic impasse. In recent years, many new antibiotics have been introduced to enrich the therapeutic armamentarium. Among these new molecules, some are mainly of interest for the treatment of the multidrug-resistant infections associated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ceftolozane/tazobactam and imipenem/relebactam); others are for carbapenem-resistant infections associated with Enterobacterales (ceftazidime/avibactam, meropenem/vaborbactam); and finally, there are others that are effective on the majority of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (cefiderocol). Most international guidelines recommend these new antibiotics in the treatment of microbiologically documented infections. However, given the significant morbidity and mortality of these infections, particularly in the case of inadequate therapy, it is important to consider the place of these antibiotics in probabilistic treatment. Knowledge of the risk factors for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli (local ecology, prior colonization, failure of prior antibiotic therapy, and source of infection) seems necessary in order to optimize antibiotic prescriptions. In this review, we will assess these different antibiotics according to the epidemiological data.

Ancestral Kinship and the Origins of Ideology

AbstractFamilies are not only the first institution ever created, they are also, for most people, the first institution ever encountered. The preindustrial family structure, which was a function of local ecology and cooperation needs, instilled family members with different values, such as trust in strangers and respect for elders. These values passed through generations and, as we show in three studies, impact today's political attitudes and policies. First, using surveys of second-generation immigrants representing roughly 180 ethnicities living in 32 European countries, we show that the tighter kinship structure of a person's ancestors predicts right-wing cultural attitudes. Among those who are less engaged in politics, tighter ancestral kinship structure also predicts left-wing economic attitudes. In a second study, we control for country-level differences by comparing ethnic groups within countries and find that ancestral kinship strength predicts right-wing cultural attitudes but not left-wing economic attitudes. Finally, in a third study, we examine the policy implications of ancestral kinship. We show that stronger country-level ancestral kinship strength also increases anti-LGBT policies and welfare spending. Finally, we examine whether value systems link preindustrial kinship with modern political attitudes. In total, this work indicates that our political beliefs are rooted in the value systems and familial institutions created by our forebears.

Evaluation of Cua Lo Estuary’s Morpho-Dynamic Evolution and Its Impact on Port Planning

Coastal erosion and accretion along the Quang Nam coast in Vietnam have been increasing in recent years, causing negative impacts on the inhabitants and local ecology. The Cua Lo estuary in Nui Thanh district has a complex hydrodynamic regime owing to its connection with two estuaries and three different tributaries. Therefore, a detailed study of the mechanisms and processes of these phenomena is crucial to understand the potential impact of a proposed 50,000-ton cargo port. In this study, the Delft3D model is employed to evaluate the morpho-dynamic changes in the area of Cua Lo under monsoon wave climate, storm, and flood conditions both before and after port and navigation channel construction. Results indicate that in the absence of the port, tidal currents and waves during monsoon storms cause significant erosion on the south bank and accretion on the north bank. Furthermore, the GenCade model is utilized to predict the future shoreline changes after the construction of two jetties. The model reveals that after 50 years of operation, the shoreline modifications will extend 449 m towards the sea, in comparison to natural conditions. However, the design of the northern jetty will ensure safe and proper operation without impacting the navigation channel. This study offers valuable insights into the morphological changes in the Cua Lo area and their potential implications, which can aid in the development of sustainable coastal management strategies for the region.

Water, Bodies, Space: New Directions in World Environmental History

Water, Bodies, Space:New Directions in World Environmental History Jack Bouchard Rivers of the Sultan: The Tigris and Euphrates in the Ottoman Empire. By faisal husain. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. 278 pp. ISBN 9780197547274. $35.00 (hardcover); $35.00 (ebook). An Empire Transformed: Remolding Bodies and Landscapes in the Restoration Atlantic. By kate luce mulry. New York: New York University Press, 2021. 362 pp. ISBN 978-1-4798-9526-7. $35.00 (hardcover); $35.00 (ebook). Mapping Nature Across the Americas. Edited by kathleen a. brosnan. and james r. akerman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021. xii + 416 pp. ISBN 978-0-226-69643-0. $70.00 (hardcover); $69.99 (ebook). Sometimes it is the sudden intrusion of new questions, and the unexpected perspectives they offer, into the field of World History which has galvanized efforts to push our work and teaching forward in new directions. What does the Ottoman Empire look like from the viewpoint of a marsh in southern Iraq? How could England's Charles II dream of improving his subject's physical health in eastern England by radically transforming the landscape in which they lived? What does an Indigenous place-name on a European colonial map signify, and what can that tell us about local ecologies? These are some of the inquiries posed by a new generation of environmental historians, and they speak to the potential for their works to change how we study the past on a global scale. We are living through a transformative moment in the field of environmental history. The climate crisis has catalyzed both a surge in interest and a revolution in methods. Not only are more and more [End Page 133] explicitly "environmental history" studies appearing on the market, but increasingly other fields are producing works with an environmental inflection. A proper survey of recent publications in environmental history is becoming increasingly untenable, given the volume of output, such that to understand these transformations it is useful to examine the edges of the field, the places where scholars are pushing into new subject, methods, and conceptual approaches. Three new works offer a snapshot of the evolving field, and its potential to contribute to world history: Faisal Husain's Rivers of the Sultan: The Tigris and Euphrates in the Ottoman Empire; Kate Luce Mulry's An Empire Transformed: Remolding Bodies and Landscapes in the Restoration Atlantic; and Mapping Nature Across the Americas, a collected volume edited by Kathleen A. Brosnan and James R. Akerman. ________ Faisal Husain's Rivers of the Sultan is a wonderful addition to global environmental history, and a welcome contribution to histories of the Mideast and early modern empires. Of the three works, Husain's is perhaps the most explicitly environmental but also the most ambitious in its methods, combining several overlapping environmental history approaches. Rivers of the Sultan explores the history of the Tigris-Euphrates basin from the early sixteenth to the early eighteenth centuries. As Husain argues, historians have treated these waterways as "dismembered bodies," a practice which flies in the face of science, historical memory, and the behavior of states. This new study instead "[adopts] a hydro-scale that considers the fluvial system as a continuous whole. Unified under Ottoman hegemony, the natural drainage pattern of the twin rivers fostered intimate bonds between upstream and downstream provinces, transporting not only water and sediment but also boatloads of men, guns, and grain that cemented the Ottoman presence in the east" (p. 5). This builds on recent advancements in water history, and a push for more river-stories in our literature.1 Such an integrative approach allows him to explain the ways that regional hydrographies and ecologies were exploited by, and thwarted, the Ottoman state: "From the sixteenth century, Istanbul put this natural [End Page 134] waterwheel to work for the benefit of its imperial project" (p. 3). We are meant to see empire from the perspective of a riverbank, and the view upends how historians have spatially oriented Ottoman history. Husain's work is divided into three parts. Part I, "The Amphibious State," examines the problem of fortification and shipbuilding in the Ottoman Empire and Tigris-Euphrates basin more broadly to understand the practical...

The mismatch of narratives and local ecologies in the everyday governance of water access and mosquito control in an urbanizing community.

Mosquito-borne disease presents a significant threat to urban populations, but risk can be uneven across a city due to underlying environmental patterns. Urban residents rely on social and economic processes to control the environment and mediate disease risk, a phenomenon known as everyday governance. We studied how households employed everyday governance of urban infrastructure relevant to mosquito-borne disease in Bengaluru, India to examine if and how inequalities in everyday governance manifest in differences in mosquito control. We found that governance mechanisms differed for water access and mosquitoes. Economic and social capital served different roles for each, influenced by global narratives of water and vector control.

Determinants of household waste disposal practices and implications for practical community interventions: lessons from Lilongwe

Open waste disposal has a negative effect on local ecology, economy, and public health. Understanding factors influencing waste disposal decisions is necessary for developing solutions to curb open waste disposal. This paper discusses the associations between household’s social demographic and spatial characteristics with preference for domestic waste disposal. The paper also utilizes this knowledge practical community action. This was achieved by gathering and examining a novel dataset of the waste disposal patterns of 200 randomly chosen households in Malawi. We observed that households were likely to dispose of their waste openly when the residential unit was closer to an existing open waste disposal site. A multinomial logistic regression model showed that the likelihood of choosing waste disposal methods, such as private garbage collection services, is higher when the household head is a woman, the housing unit is owned by the occupants, or in situations where a fence is present around the housing unit. We presented these findings to the neighborhood community development committee. A short-term community waste management plan was created using a participatory community planning approach. The plan included co-designing waste disposal solutions with landlords, setting up community waste bylaws, and intensifying civic education activities. In conclusion, our study provides insights into the factors that influence households’ disposal behavior. This unique case study highlights a potential approach for developing waste management policies using a bottom-up approach.

Identifying individual, household and environmental risk factors for malaria infection on Bioko Island to inform interventions

BackgroundSince 2004, malaria transmission on Bioko Island has declined significantly as a result of the scaling-up of control interventions. The aim of eliminating malaria from the Island remains elusive, however, underscoring the need to adapt control to the local context. Understanding the factors driving the risk of malaria infection is critical to inform optimal suits of interventions in this adaptive approach.MethodsThis study used individual and household-level data from the 2015 and 2018 annual malaria indicator surveys on Bioko Island, as well as remotely-sensed environmental data in multilevel logistic regression models to quantify the odds of malaria infection. The analyses were stratified by urban and rural settings and by survey year.ResultsMalaria prevalence was higher in 10–14-year-old children and similar between female and male individuals. After adjusting for demographic factors and other covariates, many of the variables investigated showed no significant association with malaria infection. The factor most strongly associated was history of travel to mainland Equatorial Guinea (mEG), which increased the odds significantly both in urban and rural settings (people who travelled had 4 times the odds of infection). Sleeping under a long-lasting insecticidal net decreased significantly the odds of malaria across urban and rural settings and survey years (net users had around 30% less odds of infection), highlighting their contribution to malaria control on the Island. Improved housing conditions indicated some protection, though this was not consistent across settings and survey year.ConclusionsMalaria risk on Bioko Island is heterogeneous and determined by a combination of factors interacting with local mosquito ecology. These interactions grant further investigation in order to better adapt control according to need. The single most important risk factor identified was travel to mEG, in line with previous investigations, and represents a great challenge for the success of malaria control on the Island.