Agricultural habitats cover nearly half of the EU-27 and make up the backbone of many European landscapes. They are essential for the provision of food and fiber and provide cultural/recreational ecosystem services but also vital functions for biodiversity. Over the last century agriculture has been influenced by climate change, land use change, increasing land use intensity, changes in market demands and economic systems. This has had pronounced effects on its unique plant species and communities. While an overall biodiversity loss seems certain, weeds still cause substantial damage to crops, livestock and/or humans. With species introductions not having reached saturation and climate change accelerating in the 21st century, some newly introduced species are set to emerge as new weeds. These emerging weeds are the focus of AgriWeedClim and its research questions:
1. How has the weed flora in Central Europe changed during the past decades?
2. Which weed species have declined, which weed species have expanded or newly emerged? Which factors have driven these changes?
3. Which weeds will likely emerge as important weed species in the future?
4. What will the possible future trajectories of emerging weeds under different land-use and climate change scenarios be?
5. What will be the likely agricultural impacts of future spread of emerging weeds?
6. Which regions will be hotspots of emerging weeds under different land-use and climate change scenarios?
7. Which management options are available to reduce future spread and impacts of emerging weeds?
Check out the project webpage –> https://agriweedclim.univie.ac.at/
