Plant-Plant Allelopathic Interactions II

In the first volume the author suggested that we could improve our understanding of plant-plant allelopathic interactions in the field by making laboratory bioassays more holistic. Reflections after the volume was published lead the author to conclude that a more detailed analysis of the factors making up laboratory bioassays was needed in the hope that such an analysis would provide clearer and more useful directions on how to design more holistic or more relevant laboratory bioassay systems. The more holistic being a theoretical goal and the more relevant being a more pragmatic goal. This volume has been written specifically for researchers and their graduate students who are interested in studying plant-plant allelopathic interactions. The author hopes that this retrospective and at times critical analysis of laboratory bioassays will provide a foundation for better and more field-relevant laboratory designs in the future. This volume has 7 chapters describing: 1. background for designing plant-plant allelopathic laboratory bioassays, 2. the fundamentals of laboratory bioassays, 3. the issues and challenges associated with designing more relevant laboratory bioassays, 4. a set of hypothetical standard screening laboratory bioassays, 5. the known effects of putative allelopathic compounds such as phenolic acids, the physicochemical and biotic factors that modify their effects, and their modes of action, 6. a set of standard hypothetical cause and effect laboratory bioassays, and 7. the differences between field systems and laboratory bioassay systems, ways to minimize the impacts of atypical factors in laboratory bioassays, and future directions.

Auteur

Professor Emeritus at NC State University, Prof. Udo Blum is interested in characterizing and identifying the mechanisms by which allelopathic compounds, specifically phenolic acids (e.g., ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, vanillic acid, p-hydroxybenzoic acid), released into the soil environment may impact soil chemistry (e.g., soil nutrition, organic pools, sorption and desorption), soil microbiology (e.g., population biology, natural selection, carbon utilization), rhizosphere ecology (e.g., microbial population biology) and population biology (e.g., germination, seedling emergence) and physiology (e.g., mineral nutrition, carbon allocation, water relations, growth) of dicot weeds in no-till agroecosystems.

Résumé

This volume presents detailed descriptions and analyses of the underlying features, issues and suppositions associated with seed and seedling laboratory bioassays presented in a previous volume. It is, however, broader in scope and substance in that the information provided is relevant to all water-soluble compounds released to soil by putative allelopathic living plants and their litter and residues. It is ultimately an attempt to update and expand the practical guidelines for designing laboratory bioassays that have previously been provided in the literature with the hope that the designs of future seed and seedling laboratory bioassays will become more relevant to field systems. Standard references have been included to provide background and additional details. This volume has been written specifically for researchers and their graduate students who are interested in studying plant-plant allelopathic interactions.

Contenu

1 Background for Designing Laboratory Bioassays.- 2 Introduction to the Fundamentals of Laboratory Bioassays.- 3 Some Issues and Challenges When Designing Laboratory Bioassays.- 4 Hypothetical Standard Screening Bioassays.- 5 Effects, Modifiers and Modes of Action of Allelopathic Compounds Using Phenolic Acids as Model Compounds.- 6 Hypothetical Cause and Effect Bioassays.- 7 Laboratory Model Systems and Field Systems: Some Final Thoughts.- Author Index.- Subject Index.