General Assembly
During SMARTER meetings in Vianden was held the IRS General Assembly.
6th European Symposium on Aerobiology
During 5 days (between 18th and 22nd of July 2016) was held the 6th European Symposium on Aerobiology in Lyon (France). One afternoon was dedicated to ragweed during a IRS-COST SMARTER joint session.
1 lecture, 10 oral presentations and 7 posters were scheduled:
| Bruno Chauvel: Has allergy to pollen not increased the spread of common ragweed? Estimating the economic effects of Ophraella communa on common ragweed pollen risks in South-Eastern France. |
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| Matt Smith: Analysis of airborne Ambrosia pollen in Europe within the framework of Cost SMARTER. |
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| Heinz Müller-Schärer: Risk assessment of the leaf beetle Ophraella communa, a biological control candidate for Ambrosia artemisiifolia. |
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| Suzanne Lommen: The potential impact of an exotic beetle on ragweed pollen in Europe. |
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| Maira Bonini: Ophraella communa and ragweed pollen reduction in the air of Northern Italy. Relationships between ragweed and mugwort pollen seasonal parameters and assessment of their potential impact on health. |
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| Carsten Skjoth: Italian ragweed pollen inventory. |
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| Branko Sikoparija: Results of the European Quality Control exercise for Ambrosia pollen. |
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| Elena Severova: Stability of ragweed populations in Central Russia: self-maintenance or seed import? |
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| Chantal Déchamp: 2015: evolution of Ambrosia pollen concentration in 5 traps in the Rhone-Alpes Region by AFEDA. |
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| Olga Ritenberga: Temporal Changes of Ragweed (A. artemisiifolia, A. trifida, A. psilostachya) Pollen Concentration In Latvia. |
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| Dieter Ernst: Effects of NO2 on the pollen/seed production and flavonoid amount of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.). Pollen of common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.): Illumina-based de novo sequencing and differential transcript expression upon elevated NO2/O3. |
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| Iuliia Posevina: First volumetric data on ragweed pollen in Ryazan’ (Central Russia). |
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| Franziska Zemmer: Regional pollen counts reflect local loads of Ambrosia spp. but not of Xanthium ssp. |
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| Milica Atalgic: Can pollen concentrations measured at roof level represent local exposure to Ambrosia pollen in an urban area? |
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| Samuel Monnier: The interactive platform ‘Signalement-Ambroisie’ a participative tool for the fight against ragweed. |
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International Ragweed Day – June 25, 2016
What are ragweeds? Why worry? What do we know? What you can do?
Please find all the answers to these questions in this leaflet prepared by the International Ragweed Society for the 2016 International Ragweed Day.
Announcing the International Ragweed Day – June 25, 2016
Based on the proposition of allergologist Prof. Dr. Kristof Nekam and Dr. Tamas Komives the General Assembly of IRS (held in Ascona, Switzerland on October 6, 2011) proclaimed the first Saturday of the summer The International Ragweed Day (IRD) to increase understanding and awareness of the problem this invasive weed causes all over the world. The day was chosen because it is early in the growing season of the plant thereby gives enough time for preparations and actions.
We are inviting our members to take part in the organizing work.
IRS Grants
The International Ragweed Society (IRS) is pleased to offer 3 grants (2 oral presentations and 1 poster) for young ragweed researchers (under 35 years of age). Only applicants with an accepted abstract can be granted. Applications are expected from researchers studying any aspect of Ragweed and must be or become member of IRS (fee 2015-2016: 40€; http://www.alphavisa.com/esa/fees/membership-irs.php).
Those who are awarded a grant will receive a contribution of 450€ for their participation to the entire European Symposium on Aerobiology (ESA), Lyon 18-22 July 2016.
The application deadline is 14th March 2016.
For more details, click here.