Forest fragmentation, anthropogenic land use, and climate shape sand fly community composition in central Panama.

In a rural landscape of central Panama, sand fly assemblages (1,692 individuals; 30 species) show strong nestedness and low turnover, with grassland cover boosting occurrence and artificial surfaces reducing it.

• Why it matters: Landscape change in central Panama may reshape sand fly vector communities that transmit American cutaneous leishmaniasis, yet community-level responses to fragmentation and land use are not well characterized.
• What they did: The study combined metacommunity analyses with joint species distribution models, linking species occurrence and abundance to climate, land-cover composition, forest configuration, and elevation.
• The result: Land-cover composition, fragmentation metrics, and elevation explained about half the variance, while precipitation increased and higher temperatures decreased occurrence and abundance for several taxa.

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