Spatial and temporal variations in airborne Ambrosia pollen in Europe

Šikoparija, Branko; Skjøth, Carsten Ambelas; Çelenk, Sevcan; Testoni, C.; Abramidze, T; Kübler, Kerstin Alm; Belmonte, Jordina; Berger, Uwe; Bonini, Maira; Charalampopoulos, Athanasios; Damialis, Athanasios; Clot, Bernard; Dahl, Åslög; Weger, Letty A. de; Gehrig, Regula; Hendrickx, Marijke; Hoebeke, Lucie; Ianovici, Nıcoleta; Seliger, Andreja Kofol; Magyar, Donát; Mányoki, Gergely; Milkovska, Snežana; Myszkowska, Dorota; Páldy, Anna; Pashley, Catherine H.; Rasmussen, Karen; Ritenberga, Olga; Rodinkova, Victoria; Rybníček, Ondřej; Shalaboda, Valentina; Šaulienė, Ingrida; Ščevková, Jana; Stjepanović, Barbara; Thibaudon, M.; Verstraeten, Caroline; Vokou, Despoina; Yankova, Raina; Smith, Matt

doi:10.1007/s10453-016-9463-1

Cited by 54 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite the small number of sites per country, our results are in line with the fact that highest annual amounts of airborne pollen are recorded on the Pannonian Plain, which includes these countries and is highly infested with A. artemisiifolia (Sikoparija et al 2017). We had expected low densities of pollen in Italy, where all sites are located on the Po Plain and are colonised by the Ophraella beetle.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

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

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To better manage invasive populations, it is vital to understand the environmental drivers underlying spatial variation in demographic performance of invasive individuals and populations. The invasive common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, has severe adverse effects on agriculture and human health, due to its vast production of seeds and allergenic pollen. Here, we identify the scale and nature of environmental factors driving individual performance of A. artemisiifolia, and assess their relative importance. We studied 39 populations across the European continent, covering different climatic and habitat conditions. We found that plant size is the most important determinant in variation of per-capita seed and pollen production. Using plant volume as a measure of individual performance, we found that the local environment (i.e. the site) is far more influential for plant volume (explaining 25% of all spatial Published in "Biological Invasions doi: 10.1007/s10530-017-1640-9, 2018" which should be cited to refer to this work. variation) than geographic position (regional level; 8%) or the neighbouring vegetation (at the plot level; 4%). An overall model including environmental factors at all scales performed better (27%), including the weather (bigger plants in warm and wet conditions), soil type (smaller plants on soils with more sand), and highlighting the negative effects of altitude, neighbouring vegetation and bare soil. Pollen and seed densities varied more than 200-fold between sites, with highest estimates in Croatia, Romania and Hungary. Pollen densities were highest on arable fields, while highest seed densities were found along infrastructure, both significantly higher than on ruderal sites. We discuss implications of these findings for the spatial scale of management interventions against A. artemisiifolia.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 68%

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

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The majority of ragweed-studies so far have exclusively investigated common ragweed. However, considering that pollen of ragweed species is morphologically similar and give similar allergenic reactions (Frenz, 2001; Ziska et al, 2011; Sikoparija et al, 2016), it is important to consider multiple ragweed species and climate scenarios when predicting future increases in habitat suitability of allergenic ragweeds. Specifically, depending on the species and RCP used, our models estimated a change in ragweed HAR areas ranging from a loss of 11,690 km 2 (giant ragweed, RCP 8.5) to an increase of 89,500 km 2 (common ragweed RCP 6.0), affecting in particular Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-change-induced range shifts of three allergenic ragweeds (AmbrosiaL.) in Europe and their potential impact on human health

Rasmussen

Thyrring

Muscarella

et al. 2017

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Invasive allergenic plant species may have severe health-related impacts. In this study we aim to predict the effects of climate change on the distribution of three allergenic ragweed species (Ambrosia spp.) in Europe and discuss the potential associated health impact. We built species distribution models based on presence-only data for three ragweed species, using MAXENT software. Future climatic habitat suitability was modeled under two IPCC climate change scenarios (RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5). We quantify the extent of the increase in ‘high allergy risk’ (HAR) areas, i.e., parts of Europe with climatic conditions corresponding to the highest quartile (25%) of present day habitat suitability for each of the three species. We estimate that by year 2100, the distribution range of all three ragweed species increases towards Northern and Eastern Europe under all climate scenarios. HAR areas will expand in Europe by 27–100%, depending on species and climate scenario. Novel HAR areas will occur mostly in Denmark, France, Germany, Russia and the Baltic countries, and overlap with densely populated cities such as Paris and St. Petersburg. We conclude that areas in Europe affected by severe ragweed associated allergy problems are likely to increase substantially by year 2100, affecting millions of people. To avoid this, management strategies must be developed that restrict ragweed dispersal and establishment of new populations. Precautionary efforts should limit the spread of ragweed seeds and reduce existing populations. Only by applying cross-countries management plans can managers mitigate future health risks and economical consequences of a ragweed expansion in Europe.

show abstract

“…The Rhône-Alpes region, which is since 1 January 2016 part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, lies in southeastern France and covers an area of 43'700 km 2 with approximately 6.5 million inhabitants. The Rhône Valley, which runs north-south through the Rhône-Alpes region, reports the highest common ragweed infestation rates in France 10 and, together with the Pannonian plain and Northern Italy, also the highest rates in Europe 25 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological weed control to relieve millions from Ambrosia allergies in Europe

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Invasive alien species (IAS) can substantially affect ecosystem services and human wellbeing. However, quantitative assessments of their impact on human health are rare and the benefits of implementing IAS management likely to be underestimated. Here we report the effects of the allergenic plant Ambrosia artemisiifolia on public health in Europe and the potential impact of the accidentally introduced leaf beetle Ophraella communa on the number of patients and healthcare costs. We find that, prior to the establishment of O. communa, some 13.5 million persons suffered from Ambrosia-induced allergies in Europe, causing costs of Euro 7.4 billion annually. Our projections reveal that biological control of A. artemisiifolia will reduce the number of patients by approximately 2.3 million and the health costs by Euro 1.1 billion per year. Our conservative calculations indicate that the currently discussed economic costs of IAS underestimate the real costs and thus also the benefits from biological control.

show abstract

Spatial and temporal variations in airborne Ambrosia pollen in Europe

Cited by 54 publications

References 29 publications

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

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

Climate-change-induced range shifts of three allergenic ragweeds (AmbrosiaL.) in Europe and their potential impact on human health

Biological weed control to relieve millions from Ambrosia allergies in Europe

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About