A survey of weeds that are increasingly spreading in Europe
A Europe-wide survey was conducted by sending questionnaires to weed scientists in order to evaluate currently troublesome weeds and those which may cause problems in the future. Recipients were asked to list species that are spreading and cause problems in agroecosystems and to rate these according to three scores (degree of weediness, degree of spread potential and degree of control success), with three levels for each score (low, medium and high). In all, 281 species were reported from 26 European countries (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and Ukraine). Most of them were annuals (48%), followed by perennials (34%) and biennials (14%). Among these 281 weed species, the 15 most troublesome (either indigenous or alien to Europe) have been listed for each crop system defined in this survey. In the table below, the EPPO Secretariat has extracted only weed species which were considered as alien.
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Alien troublesome weed species
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Crop systems
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Amaranthus chlorostachys
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Vineyards
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Amaranthus paniculatus
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Cereals, root crops, vegetables and ornamentals, orchards, vineyards
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Amaranthus powellii
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Fodder plants and pastures, grain legumes, root crops, vegetables and ornamentals
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Amsinckia micrantha
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Fodder plants and pastures, grain legumes
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Asclepias syriaca
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Grain legumes
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Conyza albida
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Grain legumes, root crops, orchards
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Conyza bonariensis
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Cereals, grain legumes, root crops, orchards, vineyards
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Conyza sumatrensis
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Vineyards
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Crepis aspera
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Vineyards
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Duschesnea indica
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Fodder plants and pastures
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Erigeron annuus
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Fodder plants and pastures, root crops, vegetables and ornamentals
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Euphorbia nutans
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Orchards
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Heracleum mantegazzianum*
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Orchards
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Matricaria matricarioides
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Grain legumes, root crops
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Oryza sativa
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Cereals, grain legumes
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Solanum physalifolium
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Vegetables and ornamentals
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Sorghum bicolor
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Grain legumes, root crops
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Sorghum nigrum
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Grain legumes, root crops
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Veronica persica
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Fodder plants and pastures, grain legumes, root crops, vegetables and ornamentals, vineyards
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Xanthium italicum
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Fodder plants and pastures, grain legumes, root crops, vegetables and ornamentals
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* on the current EPPO list of invasive alien plants
Sources
Weber E, Gut D (2005) A survey of weeds that are increasingly spreading in Europe. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 25, 109-121