Aquatic alien plants can promote proliferation of mosquitoes
Aquatic alien plants and vector mosquitoes each pose significant ecological and public health risks, where in the case of the latter, mosquitoes can result in up to 1 million human deaths a year globally. Some species of Anopheles mosquitoes, commonly breed in natural freshwater habitats such as pools, marshes, wetlands and ponds, where aquatic plants may be present. Aquatic invasive plants can change the habitats they invade and can provide breeding grounds for mosquito populations. Species such as Pontederia crassipes (Pontederiaceae - EPPO A2 pest) and Pistia stratiotes (Araceae - EPPO A2 pest) can provide increasing ovipositing and resting sites for mosquitoes and provide microclimates for egg development. This has the potential to increase mosquito fitness and thereby increase disease transmission. Currently, the evidence for invasive aquatic plants promoting mosquito populations is based on observations rather than quantitative scientific studies. Further research is needed to study such associations.
Sources
Chikodza T, Cuthbert RN, Schrama M, Coetzee J, Wasserman R, Veldhuis MP, Strange EF (2025) Double trouble: aquatic invasive plants can promote mosquitoes. Ecological Letters 8, e70199 https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.70199