The interpretation of breeding ground is verymuch correct. The micro water bodies used in GEM mosquito contro are not sort of but really are breeding grounds. That is why mosquito come and lay egg in those and we are able to use them as traps for future generations of mosquitoes.
You have highlighted a very remarkable aspect of GEM mosquito control that 'it is a way of reducing the mosquito population'. More over you have recognised another glaring aspect that we (can visibly) break the life-cycle of mosquito.
'The logic: more places to breed means more mosquitoes' appears to me to be unfortunately not right (**below). My argument is like this: Consider a specific area, say a village/town/state/country/continent. Assume there are 'n' mated female mosquitoes which have had their blood meal. We know that they can produce a total of 100n to 300n egges during their life span. Let us denote the total number of eggs they produce as 'm'. Suppose there is 'k' square kilometeres of breeding ground. So we will get 'm' mosquitoes as the new generation.
Now consider the case of having 2k or 3k or ... 100k square kilometeres of breeding ground. How many mosquitoes will there be in the new generation then? ONLY 'm'; not even 'm+1' ! Why? Because the production of egg in the womb of mosquito is an INDEPENDANT natural process for which the availability or extent of breeding ground is not a parameter. More places to breed will not enable them to produce more eggs. If they cannot produce more eggs, how can we get more mosquitoes from more breeding grounds?
When increasing breeding grounds cannot increase mosquito population, how can decreasing breeding grounds reduce their population? More over I belive that we cannot reduce the breeding grounds to such an extent that it is unavailable to them. Even if one accepts the hypothetical case that breeding grounds can be made unavailable to them, how far can their population be brought down?
**here: May I quote a pair of proverbs from my mother tongue (malayalam - incidentally this name is an example of palindrome) adhikasya adhikam bhalam and adhikamaayaal amruthum visham. This can be translated (approximately) as more means more result/effect/output/fruit and more of even eternal life-sustainer can be as poison respectively.
These two may prima facia look to be contradicting, but really are complementing and makes it clear that a function can be valid only within it associated (prescribed) limits. More breeding grounds need not mean more mosquito production. Number of available/existing productive females is the decisive factor in the growth of their population rather than the size or number of breeding grounds. Even if we have thousands of square kilometeres of breeding grounds, if there are no mosquitoes to lay egg in those we will not get even a single mosquito from them even after centuries. On the contrary if we have laying mosquitoes and no breeding ground presently, atleast annually once the eggs will hatch either in rain or snow-melt water and their number can grow exponentially!
The interpretation of
The interpretation of breeding ground is verymuch correct. The micro water bodies used in GEM mosquito contro are not sort of but really are breeding grounds. That is why mosquito come and lay egg in those and we are able to use them as traps for future generations of mosquitoes.
You have highlighted a very remarkable aspect of GEM mosquito control that 'it is a way of reducing the mosquito population'. More over you have recognised another glaring aspect that we (can visibly) break the life-cycle of mosquito.
'The logic: more places to breed means more mosquitoes' appears to me to be unfortunately not right (**below). My argument is like this: Consider a specific area, say a village/town/state/country/continent. Assume there are 'n' mated female mosquitoes which have had their blood meal. We know that they can produce a total of 100n to 300n egges during their life span. Let us denote the total number of eggs they produce as 'm'. Suppose there is 'k' square kilometeres of breeding ground. So we will get 'm' mosquitoes as the new generation.
Now consider the case of having 2k or 3k or ... 100k square kilometeres of breeding ground. How many mosquitoes will there be in the new generation then? ONLY 'm'; not even 'm+1' ! Why? Because the production of egg in the womb of mosquito is an INDEPENDANT natural process for which the availability or extent of breeding ground is not a parameter. More places to breed will not enable them to produce more eggs. If they cannot produce more eggs, how can we get more mosquitoes from more breeding grounds?
When increasing breeding grounds cannot increase mosquito population, how can decreasing breeding grounds reduce their population? More over I belive that we cannot reduce the breeding grounds to such an extent that it is unavailable to them. Even if one accepts the hypothetical case that breeding grounds can be made unavailable to them, how far can their population be brought down?
**here: May I quote a pair of proverbs from my mother tongue (malayalam - incidentally this name is an example of palindrome) adhikasya adhikam bhalam and adhikamaayaal amruthum visham. This can be translated (approximately) as more means more result/effect/output/fruit and more of even eternal life-sustainer can be as poison respectively.
These two may prima facia look to be contradicting, but really are complementing and makes it clear that a function can be valid only within it associated (prescribed) limits. More breeding grounds need not mean more mosquito production. Number of available/existing productive females is the decisive factor in the growth of their population rather than the size or number of breeding grounds. Even if we have thousands of square kilometeres of breeding grounds, if there are no mosquitoes to lay egg in those we will not get even a single mosquito from them even after centuries. On the contrary if we have laying mosquitoes and no breeding ground presently, atleast annually once the eggs will hatch either in rain or snow-melt water and their number can grow exponentially!
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