Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39668294›Full record

ArticleJournal of chemical ecology2024

Invasive Plants' Root Extracts Display Stronger Allelopathic Activity on the Germination and Seedling Growth of a New Zealand Native Species than Extracts of Another Native Plant or Conspecifics.

Evans Effah, Andrea Clavijo McCormick

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of chemical ecology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Root-derived allelochemicals fromPlant signaling & behavior · 2026
    Article
  2. Inhibition of Seed Germination inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Allelopathic potential impact ofPlant signaling & behavior · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Evans EffahSchool of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North, 4474, New Zealand.
Andrea Clavijo McCormickSchool of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North, 4474, New Zealand. A.C.McCormick@massey.ac.nz.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3949-2439

Funding

Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden fast start to ACM
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The release of allelochemicals is one of the contributing factors to the success of invasive plants in their non-native ranges. It has been hypothesised that the impact of chemicals released by a plant on its neighbours is shaped by shared coevolutionary history, making natives more susceptible to "new" chemicals released by introduced plant species (novel weapons hypothesis). We explored this hypothesis in a New Zealand system where the two invasive plants of European origin, Cytisus scoparius (Scotch broom) and Calluna vulgaris (heather) cooccur with natives like Chionochloa rubra (red tussock) and Leptospermum scoparium (mānuka). We characterised the chemical composition of root extracts of broom, heather, red tussock and mānuka using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and then investigated the influence of aqueous root extracts at different concentrations (0.1%, 1%, 5%, 50% and 100% v/v) on mānuka seed germination and seedling growth (root and shoot length and biomass), using deionised water as control. The results show clear distinctions in the chemical composition of the four plants' root extracts, with 4-O-methylmannose dominating the broom extract and (E)-pinocarveol the heather extract, while 16-kaurene and methyl palmitate were abundant in both mānuka and tussock extracts. We found a significant effect of invasive plant (heather and broom) root extracts on mānuka germination at all concentrations tested, and adverse effects on seedling growth and biomass only at higher concentrations (≥ 5%). Broom displayed stronger allelopathic effects than heather at the highest concentration (100%). For extracts of conspecific and other native species (mānuka and red tussock) allelopathic effects were only observed at very high concentrations (50 and 100%) and were generally weaker than those observed for invasive plants. These results show that while both native and invasive plants produce chemicals with allelopathic potential, native species are likely to be more vulnerable to the allelopathic effects of species they did not co-evolve with, supporting the novel weapons hypothesis. However, this study also highlights differences in allelopathic potential between invasive species.

Indexed as

AllelopathyGerminationIntroduced SpeciesPlant ExtractsPlant RootsSeedlingsGas Chromatography-Mass SpectrometryNew ZealandPheromonesPheromonesPlant ExtractsAlien speciesAllelochemicalsAllelopathyBiological invasionIndigenous speciesNovel weapons hypothesis

Identifiers

PMID39668294
PMCPMC11717871

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.