The ecosystem and evolutionary contexts of allelopathy

• Published in: Trends in ecology & evolution (Amsterdam) Vol. 26; no. 12; pp. 655 - 662
• Main Authors: Inderjit, Wardle, David A., Karban, Richard, Callaway, Ragan M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-12-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: allelochemicals; allelopathy; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Evolution; chelation; Ecosystem; ecosystems; Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Miljö- och naturvårdsvetenskap; Pheromones - chemistry; Pheromones - pharmacology; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Plants - chemistry; soil; Soil - chemistry; soil fertility; Synecology; Allelopathy; Ecosystem
• ISSN: 0169-5347; 1872-8383; 1872-8383
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2011.08.003

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.