TY  - JOUR
A1  - Cardarelli, Elisa
A1  - Musacchio, Arianna
A1  - Montagnani, Chiara
A1  - Bogliani, Giuseppe
A1  - Citterio, Sandra
A1  - Gentili, Rodolfo
T1  - Ambrosia artemisiifolia control in agricultural areas: effect of grassland seeding and herbivory by the exotic leaf beetle Ophraella communa
T2  - NeoBiota
N2  - Ambrosia artemisiifolia (common ragweed) is an invasive species native to North America and was accidentally introduced to Europe in the 19th century. Widespread in disturbed habitats, it is a major weed in spring-sown crops and it causes serious allergic rhinitis and asthma due to its allergenic pollen. The aim of this research was to analyse the effects of both competitive vegetation and herbivory by Ophraella communa to control A. artemisiifolia in an agricultural area of north-western Italy. Hayseed mixtures, both over-seeded over the resident plant community or after ploughing, when seeded before the winter season, were able to suppress the establishment of A. artemisiifolia as well as to reduce its growth in terms of plant height and inflorescence size. Defoliation of A. artemisiifolia by O. communa at the end of the growing season was conspicuous but most of the plants still produced flowers and seeds. However, significant O. communa attack was recorded for reproductive structures. As for non-target species, O. communa was mainly recorded on Asteraceae, with low density and low degree of damage. Reduction of inflorescence size due to competitive vegetation and damage to male flowers by O. communa may diminish the amount of available pollen. The results of this study may be useful for the implementation of management measures to control A. artemisiifolia in agricultural areas using mixtures of native species.
KW  - Allergenic species
KW  - Invasive species
KW  - Competitive vegetation
KW  - Biological control
KW  - Agriculture
KW  - Common ragweed
Y1  - 2018
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/47325
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-473255
VL  - 2018
IS  - 38
SP  - 1
EP  - 22
ER  -