Wardle, David
- Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Plants can release chemicals into the environment that suppress the growth and establishment of other plants in their vicinity: a process known as 'allelopathy'. However, chemicals with allelopathic functions have other ecological roles, such as plant defense, nutrient chelation, and regulation of soil biota in ways that affect decomposition and soil fertility. These ecosystem-scale roles of allelopathic chemicals can augment, attenuate or modify their community-scale functions. In this review we explore allelopathy in the context of ecosystem properties, and through its role in exotic invasions consider how evolution might affect the intensity and importance of allelopathic interactions.
Published in
Trends in ecology & evolution
2011, volume: 26, number: 12, pages: 655-662
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.08.003
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/58735