Giuseppe Mazza & Elena Tricarico 
Invasive Species and Human Health 

Invasive alien plants and animals are known for their disruption of ecosystems and threat to biodiversity. This book highlights their major impact on human health. This includes not only direct effects through contact with the species via bites, wounds and disease, but also indirect effects caused by changes induced in ecosystems by invasive species, such as more water hyacinth increasing mosquito levels and thereby the potential for malaria. Covering a wide range of case studies from different taxa (animals and plants), and giving an overview of the diverse impacts of invasive species on health in developed and developing countries, the book is a significant contribution that will help in prioritizing approaches to controlling invasive species and mitigating their health effects. It covers invasive plants, marine species, spiders and other arachnids, ticks and dust mites, insects, mosquitos and other diptera, freshwater species (invertebrates and fishes), amphibians and reptiles, birds and mammals.

Key Features
Collects together the major health impacts for the first time

Covers animal and plant invasive species

Examines issues in developed and developing countries

The broad spectrum of the analyzed case studies will ensure the appeal of the book to a wide public, including researchers of biological invasions, doctors, policy-makers and managers, and students of invasive species in ecology, animal and plant biology and public health medicine.

About the author

– Elena studied and took her Master and Ph D on Ethology and Animal Ecology at the University of Florence, working mostly on aquatic invertebrates. Since as a Master student, she deals with the biological invasions problem, particularly in freshwater ecosystems, through different perspectives, from behavioural ecology to management aspects. Elena participated to several national and European projects (as DAISIE, IMPASSE) on alien species, and she recently started to work on the predictive aspects of this problem, especially in relation to the climate change. Her main fields of research range from biological invasions to social behaviour in invertebrates, leading her to travel around Europe, USA and Africa, to establish many fruitful collaborations and to produce 60 peer reviewed publications (42 with IF), 5 book chapters and 1 edited book.Currently, she is involved in the COST Action TD1209 (Alien Challenge). Elena was co-responsible for the revision of the freshwater species of the EASIN catalogue and she is on its editorial board.