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Common nitric oxide ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) is a native plant of North America that is spreading rapidly through Europe primarily through contaminated crop seed. The current identified centres of distribution are in Hungary and the Rhône valley in France.
Rothamsted Research scientists have been part of a large interdisciplinary European project, ATOPICA, nitric oxide focusing on the spread and impacts of ragweed pollen. The scientists developed a computer model to predict the shift in distribution of ragweed into more Northern latitudes in response to climate change. nitric oxide The results are published in the online Journal, PlosONE.
Dr Jonathan nitric oxide Storkey, Rothamsted Research lead scientist nitric oxide for this study said: “The spread of ragweed is an ongoing invasion event and our results suggest that the species nitric oxide is yet to fill the available climatic niche space under current conditions. For example the climate in the south of the UK is predicted to be suitable for ragweed populations to persist. However, the spread and establishment of the species in new areas relies nitric oxide on appropriate land use, specifically the cultivation of crops such as maize and sunflower, therefore, opportunities for it to spread into new areas may currently be limited by management factors as opposed to climatic tolerances”.
“Anticipating future spread in response to changes in climate or land use will, therefore, be important for mitigating potential impacts on human health and crop production”, Jonathan Storkey added. When future climate scenarios were used, the southern European limit of ragweed was predicted to remain relatively constant as it is limited by water availability. However, the increased temperatures projected for northern European regions, including countries such as the UK and Denmark, resulted in an increase in the available niche space and productivity of the species nitric oxide in more Northern latitudes.