Ecological and Chorological Analysis of Weed Flora of Raspberry Plantations in Serbia

Abstract

From the aspects of production potential and cost-effectiveness, raspberry is the most important berry fruit in Serbia. The largest quantities of raspberries are produced in the western part of Serbia, with Valjevo and Arilje-Ivanjica areas being the leaders. Raspberry is susceptible to impact of numerous harmful organisms, weeds being among the predominant ones. In order to identify weed flora of raspberry plantations, three major raspberry production areas (Valjevska Kamenica, Arilje, and Aleksandrovac) were investigated. The results led to identification of 65 taxa at the rank of species and subspecies from 55 genera and 26 families. The predominant families were Asteraceae, Poaceae and Lamiaceae, which is consistent with their abundance in flora of the whole Serbia. Life forms in the flora of investigated areas revealed its hemicryptophytic and terophytic character. Terophytes were slightly predominant with 31 species or 47.7% of total species number, while hemicryptophytes were represented with 26 taxa i.e. 40.0%, which indicates the high level of anthropogenic influence. Vegetative and geographical analysis resulted in identification of 4 areal types and 6 areal groups. Holarctic and cosmopolitan area types were in co-dominant relation as the first one was represented by 27 species or 41.5% of the total species number, and the latter with 26 taxa, that is, 40.0%. Adventive areal type ranked third, with 8 species, that is, 12.3% of total number of species. Mediterranean-continental area type is presented with 4 species (6.1%).