Aerobiology data used for producing inventories of invasive plants

Mapping the distribution and abundance of alien plants is important in the process of understanding their invasive potential. It provides basic information that can be used in estimating their ecological preferences but also the success of eradication strategies. Mapping of vegetation is a time consuming task and especially problematic for annuals whose population distribution and abundance show year–to-year variability. Alternatives to this bottom-up approach are therefore highly needed when producing vegetation maps and inventories. The paper examines the potential of using the top-down approach for producing pollen source inventories, which employs spatial variations in annual airborne pollen counts to indicate the abundance of invasive species. The ragweed pollen source inventory over Vojvodina is presented here as an example. The degree in which the performance of the method is affected by spatial resolution is investigated.