Aktivitäten der Bundesländer zur Verhinderung der Ausbreitung der Beifuß- Ambrosie (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) in Deutschland

Abstract

In the seventh year after the publication of the Federal Programme of Action aiming at the prevention of the spread of ragweed, an assessment based on 14 criteria is made to which extent the tasks of the programme were implemented by the states. It was validated whether a monitoring system could be established. Since common ragweed is not homogeneously distributed in Germany, the requirement to implement measures against the species differs between the federal states. Thus, the population size of common ragweed was estimated for each of the 16 German federal states first and after that the states were classified depending on the size of the species’ occurrences. Requirements for action were formulated. At present, the largest ragweed stands occur in the federal state Brandenburg, followed by Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland–Palatinate and Hesse. The most extensive measures were conducted in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Brandenburg. The investigation shows that the scope of the measures does not correlate with the extent of Ambrosia occurrences in the states in every case. Since ragweed pollen coming from extensive plant populations can be spread by wind, and since ragweed spread will not stop at administrative borders, it should be the goal to achieve a nationwide equal as possible high level of activities. If the measures against common ragweed will not be intensified, further spread of the species is likely. The historic opportunity, to prevent the spread of Ambrosia in an early phase of the propagation process with even relatively little effort and thus protection of the health of the population, then would be wasted.

Keywords

• Ambrosia artemisiifolia
• Ragweed
• distribution in Germany
• activities of federal states
• action programme
• pollen allergy