Thanks to the enthusiasm and expertise of invited contributors, we managed to keep a steady pace—nearly one monograph per year. The tenth is scheduled for 2026 and will focus on Humulus scandens. If you have ideas or would like to contribute to the series, feel free to reach out!

These detailed evaluations deserved a second life in academic format, accessible to a wider audience. In the end, over half of the monographs (on Carpobrotus, Arundo donax, Asclepias syriaca, Rhododendron ponticum, Cortaderia selloana) came from other contexts.

Nine years ago, as associate editor at Botany Letters, I launched this series. The initial idea was to give broader scientific visibility to risk assessments conducted by EPPO, many of which led to species being listed under EU Regulation No. 1143/2014.

Let’s rethink weed management to design sustainable systems that benefit both plants and microbes! #Agroecology #Sustainability #SoilHealth #NitrogenCycle #Vineyards

📝 Takeaway for farmers & researchers:
Weed management strategies have cascading effects—from root traits to soil microbes—that shape agroecosystem sustainability. We demonstrate the need to measure the root traits of weeds to unravel how weed communities influence soil processes.

💡 Why it matters:
Our findings underline the need to limit herbicide use and embrace diverse management practices like mowing, which foster sustainable N cycling and healthy soil functions.

• Mowed weed communities are a win-win: they support interrow plant diversity, act as organic amendments with high N content, and improve soil N retention.

• While herbicides are associated with higher weed specific root length and increasing short-term N availability, they may contribute to higher N losses and lower efficiency in the long run due to their influence on weed root strategies

Key Insights:
• Mowing promotes biodiversity, boosts soil microbial biomass (+58% respiration compared to herbicides), and enhances weeds with a conservative strategy and high associations with AMF, which are more likely to mitigate N losses, especially in low-fertilised systems such as vineyards

Our study explores how weed management practices (chemical weeding, tillage, mowing) shape the interactions between weed communities and soil microbes—key players in the nitrogen cycle.