Use of a comparative approach to identify allelopathic potential and relationship between allelopathy bioassays and "competition" experiments for ten grassland and plant species

• Published in: Journal of chemical ecology Vol. 22; no. 5; p. 933
• Main Authors: Wardle, D.A. (AgResearch, Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand.), Nicholson, K.S, Rahman, A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.1996
• Subjects: ALELOPATIA; ALLELOPATHIE; ALLELOPATHY; BIOASSAYS; CARDUUS NUTANS; CRECIMIENTO; CROISSANCE; EMERGENCE; EMERGENCIA; ENSAYO BIOLOGICO; EXTRACTOS VEGETALES; EXTRAIT D'ORIGINE VEGETALE; GERMINACION; GERMINATION; GROWTH; LEACHATES; LESSIVAT; LEVEE; LIXIVIADOS; PLANT EXTRACTS; STEMS; TALLO; TEST BIOLOGIQUE; TIGE
• ISSN: 0098-0331; 1573-1561
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02029946

Various allelopathy bioassays were used to evaluate the allelopathic potential of 10 grassland forage species against a common test (phytometer) species, Carduus nutans L. Aqueous extracts did not influence C. nutans germination, although radicle elongation was often severely inhibited. C. nutans was strongly affected by shoot, but not root, leachates. Decomposing ground tissue had mixed effects, and often stimulated shoot production of C. nutans. Calculation of R2 (coefficient of determination) values between these results, and the results of previous experiments investigating the effects of the same 10 species on C. nutans emergence and development in field plots and glasshouse competition experiments frequently revealed strong, statistically significant relationships. Our results therefore provide correlative evidence for the importance of allelopathy in field conditions