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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Common ragweed growth under different level of competition

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description

Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is colonizing various habitats. From mid-May to September 2012, the growth and development of different plants was monitored in four different habitats. Main development stages were observed and a final aerial biomass was measured. The number of ragweed plants surviving competition and management practices was lower in the plots with alfalfa than in the other plots. The number of ragweed plants reaching the male-flowering stage was significantly higher in the spontaneous vegetation and the “sown wildflowers”. Nevertheless, it was never observed a strong enough competition in any of the plots to avoid the flowering stage. We can extrapolate that in non-experimental conditions, many of the ragweed plants would have produced seeds showing the ability of this species to produce seeds, even after two cuts. These areas are generally managed lately in the season, giving the opportunity to potentially control late-germinated weeds such as common ragweed.