Contents
What is allelopathy and why it is significant for survival of a plant?
Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more biochemicals that influence the germination, growth, survival, and reproduction of other organisms from the same community. Allelopathy is characteristic of certain plants, bacteria, coral, fungi, rather than algae.
How does allelopathy influence seed ecology?
Allelopathy is the process by which plants release phytochemicals directly into their surrounding environment, inhibiting seed germination and growth of established neighboring species (Rice, 1995).
Why is understanding allelopathy important in agriculture?
Because of the increased interest in vari- ous agricultural systems where plant interactions are critical, knowledge of allelopathy is a necessity. When our knowledge of these interactions is more complete, they may become useful tools in plant breeding, herbicide studies and crop production.
What are the effects of allelopathy?
Allelopathy is defined as the effects (stimulatory and inhibitory) of a plant on the development of neighboring plants through the release of secondary compounds. Autoallelophaty is the beneficial or harmful effect of a plant species on itself.
Is allelopathy interspecific competition?
The results suggest that adaptive changes in allelopathy can lead to cyclic coexistence of plant species even when their ecological characters are very similar and interspecific competition is stronger than intraspecific competition, which should destroy competitive coexistence in the absence of adaptation.
What is an example of allelopathy?
Trees are great examples of allelopathy in plants. For instance, many trees use allelopathy to protect their space by using their roots to pull more water from the soil so other plants cannot thrive. Other trees that are known to exhibit allelopathic tendencies include maple, pine, and eucalyptus.
Why is it important to know about allelopathy?
Allelopathy is currently considered an important factor for the structure and dynamics of communities and is viewed as a competitive advantage that exotic plants have in their introduced ranges.
Why are allelopathic interactions important to plant communities?
Allelopathic interactions are an important factor in determining species distribution and abundance within plant communities and are also thought to be important for the success of many invasive plants.
What are the effects of allelopathy in zooplankton?
Allelopathy has also been reported in zooplankton species, with effects including reduced feeding and growth and increased mortality ( Halbach, 1969; Folt and Goldman, 1981; Matveev, 1993; Lürling et al., 2003). As a consequence, allelopathy can modulate competitive interactions.
How is steady state coexistence possible with allelopathy?
Allelopathy involving two populations that compete for one nutrient. ZNGI graphs (indicated by Z ) intersect at the circled point, making steady-state coexistence possible. The shaded feasible region for steady states is superimposed, bounded by mass-conservation constraints for populations 1 and 2 (indicated by M ).