HALT Ambrosia - complex research on the invasive alien plant ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) in Europe

The European Commission, Directorate-General Environment, is funding a new project on Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.: Complex research on methods to halt the Ambrosia invasion in Europe – HALT AMBROSIA. The project has started in spring 2011 and is executed by a consortium of German, Hungarian, Austrian, Slovenian, Danish and Swiss researchers. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to the reduction of the prevalence of Ambrosia in European countries in order to reduce the burden on public health, agriculture and biodiversity. This will consist of developing strategy elements for the reduction of A. artemisiifolia and its pollen in countries where the species is already established, e.g., Hungary, Slovenia, parts of Austria, and South-eastern Europe and for the prevention of further import and spread in countries not yet heavily infested, such as Germany, the Netherlands and Northern European countries. To this end the gaps in the existing information needed for understanding historical successes and failures of control and eradication activities will be analysed. Results of laboratory and field experiments will cover the germination biology and seed bank behaviour and the proportion of viable and germinable seeds produced by different populations or found in transported commodities, such as bird seed and soils. The impacts of chemical and non-chemical control measures on A. artemisiifolia and on adjacent plants will be investigated