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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Estimation of the pollen and seed production of common ragweed in Europe

subject

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International audience; Common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) is an invasive weed of fieldcrops and human-disturbed habitats in Europe. As well as in its natural range (NorthAmerica), common ragweed is a threat to human health due to its abundant allergenicpollen release. Most studies have been focused on airborne pollen monitoring, but todate, no data have been available on precise individual plant pollen and seed productionrelated to plant traits growing in natural environment and on their corresponding sourceof variation. The aim of this study was to evaluate pollen and seed production of commonragweed plants in several populations in France. Seasonal pollen production per plantranged from 100 million to 3 billion and seed production from 346 to 6,114, dependingon plant size and habitat. Common ragweed plants developing in field crops producedmore pollens and seeds than those growing in other habitats. Pollen and seed productionwas closely related to plant volume and biomass, thus providing a means of estimatingpotential pollen and seed production in given target areas. Such biological data could beintegrated into population management strategies or into airborne pollen modelling