Populationbiology und Range Dynamic of the Neophyte Ambrosia artemisiifolia (since 2008)

Ambrosia artemisiifolia is a neophyte which recently spreads dramatically in Central Europe. Its highly allergenic pollen re causing serious health problems. Within this project, we will study ecological, population-biological and dispersal biological aspects of the species to analyse which factors are responsible for its recent spread. The study also aims at developing a system predicting in which regions health problems can be expected and which measures against the further spread of the species seem appropriate The main tasks will comprise

• Development of a combined migrations and meta-population model for Ambrosia under consideration of spatial explicit simulation models for species seed dispersal by wind, animals and humans
• Paramerisation of the Model for Ambrosia using empirical data
• Validation of the model