Forests may slow malaria transmission by cooling temperatures and reducing the potential for water to pool, which reduces the amount of time, and the number of places mosquitoes can breed.
And when it comes to malaria, the type of mosquito matters.
“We have non vector mosquitoes, and we have bad mosquitoes, which are vectors of human malaria parasite. Those vectors and human blood feeding ones are the ones creating this issue,” Estifanos says. “The most efficient malaria vectors are found in sub–Saharan Africa and three are the dominant ones: Anopheles gambiae, Anopheles arabiensis, and Anopheles funestus.”
Two of these species, Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus, are highly anthropophilic—meaning they prefer to feed on human blood meal. The third type, Anopheles arabiensis, feed on livestock but will use human blood meals in their absence.
The UVM study used spatial data from the Malaria Atlas Project to determine if vector biology and deforestation influence malaria prevalence across landscapes. When the research team disaggregated the data by mosquito species, they found deforestation increased malaria prevalence in regions where the two anthropophilic species are dominant but not where Anopheles arabiensis thrive.
Source: Deforestation Exacerbates Risk of Malaria for Most Vulnerable Children

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