Authors: Geoffrey R Squire Broder Breckling Antje Dietz Pfeilstetter Rikke B Jorgensen Jane Lecomte Sandrine Pivard Hauke Reuter Mark W Young
Publish Date: 2010/08/01
Volume: 18, Issue: 1, Pages: 111-115
Abstract
Feral oilseed rape has become widespread in Europe on waysides and waste ground Its potential as a source of GM impurity in oilseed rape harvests is quantified for the first time by a consistent analysis applied over a wide range of study areas in EuropeThe maximum contribution of feral oilseed rape to impurities in harvested crops was estimated by combining data on feral abundance and crop yield from five established demographic studies in agricultural habitats in Denmark Germany 2 France and the UK constituting over 1500 ha of land and 16 siteyears of observations Persistence of feral populations over time was compared by visual and molecular methodsFerals had become established in all regions forming populations 02 to 15 km−2 The seed they produced was always 00001 of the seed on crops of oilseed rape in each region The contribution of ferals to impurity in crops through accidental harvest of seed and through crosspollination would be an even smaller percentage Feral oilseed rape nevertheless showed a widespread capacity to persist in all regions and retain traits from varieties no longer grownFeral oilseed rape is not a relevant source of macroscopic impurity at its present density in the landscape but provides opportunity for genetic recombination stacking of transgenes and the evolution of genotypes that under strong selection pressure could increase and reoccupy fields to constitute an economic weed burden and impurity in future crops
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