Chemical Ecology of Plants: Allelopathy in Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecosystems

Allelochemicals play a great role in managed and natural ecosystems. Apart from plant growth, allelochemicals also may influence nutrient dynamics, mycorrhizae, soil chemical characteristics, and microbial ecology. Synergistic action of various factors may better explain plant growth and distribution in natural systems. The book emphasizes the role of allelochemicals in shaping the structure of plant communities in a broader ecological perspective. The book addresses the following questions: (1) How do allelochemicals influence different components of the ecosystem in terms of shaping community structure? (2) Why is it difficult to demonstrate interference by allelochemicals (i.e., allelopathy) in a natural system in its entirety? Despite a large amount of existing literature on allelopathy, why are ecologists still skeptical about the existence of allelopathy in nature? (3) Why are there only scarce data on aquatic ecosystems? (4) What role do allelochemicals play in microbial ecology?.....

Problems and prospects in the study of plant allelochemicals: a brief introduction.- Antifungal properties of cyanobacteria and algae: ecological and agricultural implications.- The chemistry and chemical ecology of biologically active cyanobacterial metabolites.- Compounds from Typha domingensis P..- Allelochemicals from sunflowers: chemistry, bioactivity and applications.- Feedback mechanism in the chemical ecology of plants: role of soil microorganisms.- Do allelochemicals operate independent of substratum factors?.- Ecological relevance of allelopathy: some considerations related to Mediterranean, subtropical, temperate, and boreal forest shrubs.- Linking ecosystem disturbance with changes in keystone species, humus properties and soil chemical ecology: implications for conifer regeneration with ericaceous understory.- Black walnut allelopathy: current state of the science.- Allelopathy and agroecology.- Allelochemicals phytotoxicity in explaining weed invasiveness and their function as herbicide analogues.- Shift in allelochemical functioning with selected abiotic stress factors.- Pitfalls in interpretation of allelochemical data in ecological studies: implications for plant-herbivore and allelopathic research.- Biochemical and physiological aspects of pollen allelopathy.