Can invasive plants increase tick exposure risk? Scientists reveal a surprising link to human health

by Lourdes Mederos, University of Florida
November 12, 2025

An invasive grass found on almost every continent and considered a pest in 73 countries isn’t just weeding out native plants, it is creating a haven for disease-carrying ticks and raising public health risk concerns.
 
A new University of Florida study, published recently in Ecology, demonstrates how cogongrass, an invasive grass common across the Southeast United States is enhancing tick survival.  Researchers at UF’s Invasion Science Institute (ISI) found that lone star ticks, a species common in the Southeast and known to bite humans, survive more than 50% longer in areas dominated by invasive cogongrass than in native plant communities.
 
“The direct effects of invasive plants are well known, but these finds show that invasions can also indirectly impact human health by prolonging tick survival” said Luke Flory, professor and associate chair of the agronomy department at UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and director of the UF Invasion Science Institute (ISI).

Longer tick survival means more opportunities to feed on hosts like deer, and more opportunities to spread disease to people and wildlife. 

Keep reading: https://news.ufl.edu/2025/11/tick-longevity-/

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/ftr/10.1002/ecy.70233