Assessment of Vespa velutina distribution reveals urban stressors influence its presence in a coastal city, suggesting green infrastructure could help manage invasives.
Key Points
This research aims to understand how urban and rural environments impact the distribution of the invasive hornet Vespa velutina.
Combined environmental data from satellite imagery on air pollutants, noise levels, light intensity, and vegetation cover.
Used 199 traps to quantify Vespa velutina abundance and performed hotspot analysis to investigate spatial clustering.
Incorporated citizen-reported nest density as a control variable and utilized regression models to evaluate relationships while accounting for spatial autocorrelation.
Vespa velutina abundance is negatively correlated with vegetation cover and positively correlated with noise and air pollution.
Light pollution and nest density showed no significant relationship with hotspot intensity under spatial dependence.
Findings indicate that V. velutina can thrive in urban areas, highlighting the need for proactive urban ecological management.