Woman Sneezes from Ragweed Pollen (IMAGE)

CABI

Woman Sneezes from Ragweed Pollen

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Dr Urs Schaffner, lead author of study in Nature Communications, says the leaf beetle Ophraella communa can significantly reduce pollen - which causes a range of symptoms from sneezing to itchy eyes and aggravates conditions such as asthma and eczema - from common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia). The interdisciplinary study - the first to quantify the economic benefits of biological control in Europe - also argues that the costs inflicted by invasive species in Europe are 'most probably seriously underestimated'.

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