Barry Alto
Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow
barry.alto@yale.edu
Background
Ph.D. (2006), Medical Entomology, University of Florida
Biological interactions of container mosquitoes (competition, predation)
and vector-virus relationships.
Projects
The reproductive performance (fitness) of organisms can be impacted by temporal and spatial variation in environmental temperature, especially poikilotherms whose inner heat relates to ambient conditions. Dramatic and long-term climate shifts are hypothesized to explain major historical extinctions. Moreover, anticipated climate warming will undoubtedly impact present-day biological communities. Laboratory models provide the power to rigorously test how temperature shifts will affect organismal adaptation and impact biodiversity. My research focuses on the effects of thermal fluctuations on evolution of Sindbis virus in vitro, and to examine the consequences of this adaptation for mosquito vector-virus interactions in vivo.
Publications
Alto, BW, B Kesavaraju, LP Lounibos. 2006. Selective predation on invasive mosquito prey changes
with larval development. Funct. Ecol .(submitted).
Kesavaraju, B, BW Alto, SA Juliano, LP Lounibos. 2006. Behavioral responses to predators in larval
container mosquitoes. Ecol. Entomol. (In press).
Alto, BW, MW Griswold, LP Lounibos. 2005. Habitat complexity and sex-dependent predation of
mosquito larvae in containers. Oecologia 146: 300-310.
Alto, BW, LP Lounibos, S Higgs, SA Juliano. 2005. Larval competition differentially affects
arbovirus infection in Aedes mosquitoes. Ecology 86: 3279-3288.
Alto, BW, SP Yanoviak, LP Lounibos, BG Drake. 2005. Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 on
water chemistry and mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) growth under competitive conditions in container
habitats. Florida Entomol. 88: 372-382.
Alto, BW, SA Juliano. 2001. Temperature effects on the dynamics of Aedes albopictus
(Diptera: Culicidae) populations in the laboratory. J. Med. Entomol. 38: 548-556.
Alto, BW, SA Juliano. 2001. Precipitation and temperature effects on populations of Aedes albopictus
(Diptera: Culicidae): implications for range expansion. J. Med. Entomol. 38: 646-656.
Alto, BW, LP Lounibos, SA Juliano. 2003. Age-dependent bloodfeeding of Aedes aegypti and Aedes
albopictus on artificial and living hosts. J. Am. Mosq. Control Assoc. 19: 347-352.
Daugherty, MP, BW Alto, SA Juliano. 2000. Invertebrate carcasses as a resource for competing
Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae). J. Med. Entomol. 37: 364-372.
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