The Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) and CABI are co-supervising a new PhD student who is helping to tackle common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) which is one of the world’s most invasive and noxious weeds, writes Dr Stefan Toepfer and Wayne Coles.
Patrice Nduwayo, from the University of Ngozi in Burundi, has joined the team in Hungary and will help understand the host range of a biological control agent to fight common ragweed in invaded regions of Europe.
Common ragweed originates from North America. It reduces crop yields, shifts flora of natural habitats, and seriously impacts human health. Its pollen can cause a range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes and aggravates conditions such as asthma and eczema. It is also a major weed problem in sunflower and soybean crops.
Effective sustainable biological solution
However, it is hoped that the leaf beetle Ophraella communa – whose adults and larvae feed on common ragweed whilst reducing its seed and pollen shed – can serve as an effective sustainable biological solution where it has already had success in helping to manage common ragweed in East Asia, Italy, and Switzerland.
Patrice, who is supervised by the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) specialist Dr Jozsef Kiss and the weed scientists Dr Zita Dorner from MATE, as well as by CABI’s invasive species experts Dr Urs Schaffner and Dr Stefan Toepfer, will focus on understanding the host range of O. communa in regions and plant communities that have not yet been studied.
He will combine state-of-the art laboratory and field methodologies on risks assessments including detailed life table studies and population growth estimates under choice conditions. This will help scientists obtain reliable predictions on the safety or risks connected to potential mass releases of this promising biocontrol agent.
Mass release the insect in several Ambrosia – invaded regions of Europe
The leaf beetle Ophraella communa is seen here attacking the invasive alien plant common ragweed (Photo: S. Toepfer).
The plan of several European institutions is to mass release the insect in several Ambrosia -invaded regions of Europe in the future. This, however, requires a European-wide assessment of potential non-target plants that may be at risk from the biological control agent.
Western European scientist have already studied a set of non-targets, but assessments from Central or Eastern European plant communities are still limited, hindering the conclusion of the complete picture.
Prof Jozsef Kiss, said, “There are still not many examples of European-wide risk assessments of weed biocontrol agents, and we hope the results of the PhD student’s work will bring the science community and legislators a step forward.”
Patrice’s placement is being run under the Plant Science Doctoral School at the Department of Integrated Plant Protection of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) in Godollo, Hungary, and is financed by the Stipendium Hungaricum.
Build his expertise on pest risk assessment
He is also linked to the Horizon Europe AdoptIPM project that brings nature-based IPM solutions for invasive pests into practice, focussing on Europe and China and his research is being conducted together with CABI’s centre in Switzerland.
Dr Stefan Toepfer said, “Patrice has a chance to build his expertise on pest risk assessment that will later be highly useful for his home country Burundi.
“It will further support efforts of the PlantwisePlus programme that is working there to improve the preparedness of the country for invasive agricultural priority pests, and to ultimately help smallholder farmers increase their yields and livelihoods while sustainably tackling a range of crop pests and diseases.”
PhD student Patrice Nduwayo (left) joins the student team at CABI Switzerland’s laboratory in Hungary to conduct his research on biological weed management of common ragweed under the MATE University of Godollo, Hungary, and CABI (Photo: Afiqah).
Additional information
Main photo: PhD student Patrice Nduwayo researches common ragweed`s major natural enemy, the leaf beetle Ophraella communa, in Hungary (Photo: Stefan Toepfer).
See also the projects, news and blogs on common ragweed
Project
News and blogs
EU-China joint action to increase the development and adoption of IPM tools
Managing the invasive allergen, Ragweed
Humble bug holds key to relieving millions of allergy sufferers in Europe
Relevant book
Read the CABI-published book ‘Invasive Species and Global Climate Change,’ edited by L.H. Ziska and J.S. Dukes, which has a chapter entitled ‘Ragweed in Eastern Europe.’
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