Can the large ecological amplitude of Ambrosia artemisiifolia explain its invasive success in France?

Abstract

SummaryIn order to understand the successful spread of Ambrosia artemisiifolia in France, the variability of colonised habitat by this species was studied at 48 locations, from its central to peripheral area of distribution. Each site was characterised by a vegetation survey, a description of the A. artemisiifolia population and a soil analysis. Differences in the number of species, Shannon diversity index, evenness index and plant life form spectra were compared among the sites. A total of 276 species occurring along with A. artemisiifolia was observed. Therophytes and hemicryptophytes represented more than 80% of all the species. The two most frequent species occurring along with A. artemisiifolia were Chenopodium album and Polygonum aviculare. Multivariate analysis of vegetation surveys showed that A. artemisiifolia has a wide ecological tolerance. It colonises a large range of disturbed habitats differing in terms of vegetation cover, species composition and type of soil. The present study highlights the potential of A. artemisiifolia for invading spring crops and all semi‐natural or disturbed open areas. The success of its ongoing invasion can be explained by both its generalist character and the existence of vacant ecological niches, which are poorly occupied by the French native flora.

Explaining variability in the production of seed and allergenic pollen by invasive Ambrosia artemisiifolia across Europe

“…Variation in plant size of A. artemisiifolia was previously found in field surveys in smaller geographical areas (Fumanal et al 2007a(Fumanal et al , 2008Ortmans et al 2016), but our study shows that variation across sites (rather than across regions) is also the most important spatial level when examined across the entire European distribution of the species. Local conditions and not regional gradients were also found to drive demographic variation in two closely related species, Ambrosia trifida and Helianthus annuus, on corn fields in the US (Wortman et al 2012).…”

“…We therefore expected better performance at locations with warmer growing seasons (more growing degree days) and higher levels of precipitation, and collected local weather data. The species grows on a wide variety of habitat types and soil textures (Essl et al 2015;Fumanal et al 2008), which may result in differential demographic performance. We expected plants to grow taller on arable land because of likely higher nutrient levels (Fumanal et al 2007a;Karrer et al 2011), but had no a priori expectations about the effect of other habitat types and soils because literature on this issue was lacking.…”

“…June, but the exact date differed according to phenology at the specific site). Ambrosia artemisiifolia can be distributed patchily within sites (Fumanal et al 2008), allowing for the detection of potential intraspecific density-dependent effects. We therefore placed between 12 and 15 plots semi-randomly at each site capturing the entire range of A. artemisiifolia densities found within the site (with a minimum distance of 1 m between them and from the outside border of the site).…”

Ecological importance of electrical devices innovative in the process of anti Ambrosia artemisiifolia L

“…It is estimated that more than 10% of the population sensitive to pollen of plants, and that more than 50% of allergies caused by Ambrosia pollen. Allergic reactions caused by Ambrosia pollen can be a tragic end, and in a world where the weed mass present allocated large funds for its suppression and measuring the concentration of pollen in the air (HERBAL Society of Serbia 2007).One gram of pollen Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. contains up to 35 million pollen grains, and one plant can produce during the year to 1,350 million pollen grains (Fumanal, 2005). Therefore, this type of Ambrosia in the list of quarantine harmful organisms (Sl.…”

Exotic weed contamination in Swiss agriculture and the non-agriculture environment

“…Ambrosia is perfectly able to outlive a rather long period of competition in wheat fields until it starts to develop new leaves, pollen and seeds in stubble field (Delabays et al, 2005). Its high capacity for reproduction and its relatively low impact on the species diversity of a plant community (Fumanal et al, 2008) predestine Ambrosia as an agricultural weed. Agriculture should never be found guilty of not being capable of controlling weeds which harm human health.…”