Inducing competition: intensive grassland seeding to control Ambrosia artemisiifolia. (27th February 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gentili, R; Gilardelli, F; Ciappetta, S; Ghiani, A; Citterio, S; Zwerger, Peter
• Is Part Of: Weed research. Volume 55:Number 3(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 278
• Page End: 288
• Publication Date: 2015-02-27
• Subjects: Weeds -- Control -- Periodicals; Herbicides -- Periodicals; 632.5
• DOI: 10.1111/wre.12143
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0043-1737

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="wre12143-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>The invasion of <italic>Ambrosia artemisiifolia</italic> across European countries has been favoured by its ecological amplitude and by its ability to colonise and dominate disturbed/ruderal areas that have lost competition from native species. We supposed that a strong competition for habitat resources may inhibit <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic> growth, generating a negative feedback to its establishment. Based on this hypothesis, in this study, we undertook a 1‐year field experiment to assess the effect of mixtures of grassland species on <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic> growth and fitness in bare soils. We applied three different treatments within an abandoned quarry area invaded by <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic>: (i) spontaneous succession, (ii) hayseed and (iii) a commercial seed mixture. Within plots, we recorded vegetation parameters, <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic> abundance and traits. Results obtained after one growing season showed that the commercial seed resulted in the strongest reduction of <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic> growth rate in terms of plant height, lateral spread and leaf size. This was ascribed to higher density of plants that play a key role in reducing biomass and fitness of <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic>. However, hayseed should be preferred, as it preserves local biodiversity. Seeding mixtures of grassland species can successfully suppress <italic>A. artemisiifolia</italic> in the first year of establishment on a vegetation‐free soil derived from quarry activities. This study indicated that inducing dominance of different native species in a newly developing plant community should enhance competition for resources, reducing the success of early coloniser non‐native species.</p> </abstract>