…Fell Upas Sits, the Hydra-Tree of Death †, or the Phytotoxicity of Trees

Abstract

The use of natural products that can serve as natural herbicides and insecticides is a promising direction because of their greater safety for humans and environment. Secondary metabolites of plants that are toxic to plants and insects—allelochemicals—can be used as such products. Woody plants can produce allelochemicals, but they are studied much less than herbaceous species. Meanwhile, there is a problem of interaction of woody species with neighboring plants in the process of introduction or invasion, co-cultivation with agricultural crops (agroforestry) or in plantation forestry (multiclonal or multispecies plantations). This review describes woody plants with the greatest allelopathic potential, allelochemicals derived from them, and the prospects for their use as biopesticides. In addition, the achievement of and the prospects for the use of biotechnology methods in relation to the allelopathy of woody plants are presented and discussed.

Phytotoxic effect of invasive speciesAmorpha fruticosaL. on germination and the early growth of forage and agricultural crop plants

“…Under natural conditions, allelochemicals are influenced by environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall duration and intensity, soil type, humidity and constitution of microorganism communities. The complexity of interactions between these environmental factors makes allelopathic investigations in the natural environment challenging and infrequent (Soltys, Krasuska, Bogatek, & Gniazdowska, 2013), with most investigations performed, instead, in the laboratory using Petri dish bioassays (Lebedev, Krutovsky, & Shestibratov, 2019). The term “phytotoxicity” is used to distinguish between laboratory allelopathy studies using plant extracts apart and those that are performed in the natural environment.…”

Assessing Impacts of Transgenic Plants on Soil Using Functional Indicators: Twenty Years of Research and Perspectives

“…This issue takes on particular importance with regard to artificial tree plantations, where a prolonged cultivation and the dominance of one species can lead to the accumulation of allelochemicals to toxic levels [135]. Allelopathic tree species include, among others, some important fruit (walnut) and forest (eucalypts, some coniferous species) species [136]. Eucalypt species are currently the most important in the plantation forestry.…”

Physiological and Biochemical Mechanisms Mediated by Allelochemical Isoliquiritigenin on the Growth of Lettuce Seedlings

“…More than half a century later, in 1996, the definition of allelopathy was broadened by the International Allelopathy Society as 'any process involving secondary metabolites produced by plants, microorganisms, viruses, and fungi that influence the growth and development of agricultural and biological system, including positive and negative effects' [1]. Allelochemicals are non-nutritive substances, mostly called 'plant secondary metabolites' or 'microbial decomposition products', which can be released into the environment through natural pathways, such as leaf leaching during rain, dew, and fog; volatilization; pollen transmission; root secretion; and litter decomposition [1,2]. The allelopathic effect of allelochemicals can vary from that of inhibiting to stimulating seed germination and/or seedling growth and development of neighboring plants or other organisms, and can even be detrimental to their own species (autotoxic effect) [3].…”