[MAIPC] FW: Allelopathy

[Marc Imlay]

Allelopathy 

 

 

 

Potential biological control research direction

Invasive species utilize a wide array of trait strategies to establish in
novel ecosystems. Among these traits is the capacity to produce allelopathic
compounds that can directly inhibit neighboring native plants or indirectly
suppress native plants via disruption of beneficial belowground microbial
mutualisms, or altered soil resources. Despite the well-known prevalence of
allelopathy among plant taxa, the pervasiveness of allelopathy among
invasive plants is unknown. Here we demonstrate that the majority of the 524
invasive plant species in our database produce allelochemicals with the
potential to negatively affect native plant performance. Moreover,
allelopathy is widespread across the plant phylogeny, suggesting that
allelopathy could have a large impact on native species across the globe.
Allelopathic impacts of invasive species are often thought to be present in
only a few plant clades (e.g., Brassicaceae). Yet our analysis shows that
allelopathy is present in 72% of the 113 plant families surveyed, suggesting
that this ubiquitous mechanism of invasion deserves more attention as
invasion rates increase across the globe.

 

Discussion and conclusion

Invasive species are among the greatest threats to native plant biodiversity
(Gaertner et al.
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-020-02383-6#ref-CR8> 2009;
Powell et al.
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-020-02383-6#ref-CR19>
2011; Vilà et al.
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-020-02383-6#ref-CR25>
2011) and the prevalence of invasive plants is increasing (MEA
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-020-02383-6#ref-CR15>
2005). Despite this threat to native biodiversity, the mechanisms underlying
invasion are still not well resolved. Here we demonstrate that allelopathy
is a common invasion mechanism across the plant phylogeny, present in every
lineage examined. Given that not all invasive plants in our database have
been tested, it is likely that allelopathy in invasive species is even
greater than we report here. While model allelopathic invasive plants (e.g.,
Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard); Fallopia japonica (Japanese knotweed))
have received the bulk of study and notoriety in invasion literature, our
analysis suggests allelopathy is a widespread mechanism of invasion success.
Future research aimed at demonstrating the prevalence of direct (e.g.,
plant-plant inhibition) versus indirect pathways (e.g., inhabitation of
native plant-microbial interactions) of allelopathy is necessary to mediate
the detrimental effects of invasion in native ecosystems.
<https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10530-020-02383-6#article-info>
Published: 03 November 2020  <https://link.springer.com/journal/10530>
Biological Invasions volume 23, pages 367–371 

 

 

 

 



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