Invasive plants as catalysts for the spread of human parasites

Smith, M. R.

doi:10.3897/neobiota.9.1156

Cited by 42 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Biological invasions can threaten ecosystems 1 , economies 2 , and human health 3 . The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) put biological invasions on top of its research agenda in 1983 4 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research on biological invasions has increased rapidly over the past 30 years, generating numerous explanations of how species become invasive. While the mechanisms of invasive species establishment are well studied, the mechanisms driving abundance patterns (i.e. patterns of population density) remain poorly understood. Invasive species typically have higher abundances in their new environments than in their native ranges, and patterns of invasive species abundance differ between invaded regions. To explain differences in invasive species abundance, we propose the Human Release Hypothesis. In parallel to the established Enemy Release Hypothesis, this hypothesis states that the abundance of invasive species may be partly explained by the level of human activity or landscape maintenance, with intermediate levels of human activity providing optimal conditions for high abundance. The Human Release Hypothesis does not negate other important drivers of species invasions, but rather should be considered as a potentially important additional or complementary mechanism. We illustrate the hypothesis via a case study on an invasive rose species, and hypothesize which locations globally may be most likely to support high abundances of invasive species. We propose that more extensive empirical work on the Human Release Hypothesis could be useful to test its general applicability.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Human Release Hypothesis for biological invasions: human activity as a determinant of the abundance of invasive plant species

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We did not perform these analyses for review articles, because they often dealt with multiple species (Van der Weijden et al 2007, Aspöck 2008, Keller et al 2011, Mack and Smith 2011. Further, we assessed if information on temporal trends in species distribution and abundance and on public health impact were given, if the economic costs were evaluated, and if management measures were suggested.…”

Section: Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further reviews on multiple taxa (Table 2, Suppl. material 2) included human parasites spreading by invasive plants (Mack and Smith 2011), vectors of vector-borne diseases ( Van der Weijden et al 2007), and a comprehensive work by Keller et al (2011) covering all alien species in Europe, however health impacts played a very minor role in their assessment. The geographic scale of the reviews was mainly European (n=9) or global (n=6) ( Table 3).…”

Section: Review Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alien species and public health impacts in Europe: a literature review

Schindler¹,

Staska²,

Adam³

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Impacts of alien species on human health have recently become a major issue in medical research and invasion ecology, but comprehensive assessments of this subject are largely lacking. Here, we provide a literature review of alien species with public health impacts in Europe based on a systematic search in the Thomson Reuters Web of Science. We detected 77 relevant articles, of which 21 were reviews and 56 were original research articles. The taxonomic focus was on vascular plants (n=31 articles) and dipterans (n=25 articles). The original research articles mainly covered the spread of the study species, while early invasion stages (introduction, establishment) as well as impact and management were less investigated. Alien species of health concern in Europe are mostly introduced as contaminants, and mostly originate from climatically similar regions of the Northern Hemisphere. In those cases (36% of all articles) when information on the trend in range and abundance was provided, this trend was mostly increasing. We detected little information on the severity of the impacts (two articles) and the interaction with climate change (three articles). In 15 original articles (28%) specific management measures were suggested, in only one article the socioeconomic costs were assessed. We conclude that European research on human health impacts of alien species is biased towards few species, and that several important aspects such as early invasion stages, severity of impact and its temporal trends, and the scale of the socioeconomic costs caused are poorly understood. Interdisciplinary projects bridging gaps between ecologists medical researchers, socioeconomists and public health authorities are required to link alien species to severity and trends of impacts, which is a crucial requisite for risk assessment and decision making.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%