Common ragweed: An emerging threat for sunflower production and human health in Turkey

Common ragweed invasion poses serious risks to human health, biodiversity and agricultural production throughout the world. Although ragweed has an enormous potential to expand its range in Turkey, studies on ragweed have only concentrated on the Black Sea region. An exploratory survey was conducted to observe the level of ragweed occurrence on the nodes of predecided 10 × 10 km grids in the Thrace region of Turkey. Ragweed populations were observed in 44 out of 129 sites in a wide range of habitats, including roadsides, pastures, agricultural fields and non‐agricultural areas. The highest levels of ragweed infestation were recorded in the agricultural fields, followed by the roadsides. The most‐invaded crop was sunflower. The sunflower fields had the highest ragweed coverage as well and invasion even resulted in crop failure alongside the field borders. A spatial analysis of the data indicated that ragweed exhibited an aggregated pattern over the Thrace region. Ragweed distribution was not associated with the characteristics of the soils, which had a varying range of pH, electrical conductivity and texture. The results revealed that ragweed invasion can arise as a serious weed problem, interfering with the sustainability of sunflower production in Thrace and other sunflower‐producing regions of the country. A high degree of ragweed infestation also will contribute to the pollen level counts for the most crowded cities in the region, posing a serious danger to human health.     

Ipomoea coccinea L. (Convolvulaceae): a new introduced alien plant species in Turkey

This study reports the first record of Ipomoea coccinea L. [(Convolvulaceae), red morning glory] from Turkey. The literature review revealed that this taxon has not been recorded yet for the flora of Turkey. The species was mainly observed on the embankments along the Arde?en‐Çaml?hem?in road during 2016. It was again recorded during 2019 with a certain extension of the invaded area and a significant increase in population density. I. coccinea was observed in disturbed areas along roads, on the edges of tea plantations, in abandoned fields and in other waste lands. The rapid spread of the species in a short period of time suggests that it could become troublesome in future, if not managed. Therefore effective management strategies must be developed to halt its further spread. Modelling and risk assessment studies are needed to predict the potential spread and possible risks of the species to different ecosystems.