Bioassays and Field Studies for Allelopathy in Terrestrial Plants: Progress and Problems
- Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 22(3-4), p.221-238, 2003 .
Bioassays are an integral part of allelopathy research. The unsuitability of laboratory bioassays to explain field situations is discussed previously. In this article, we discuss progress in bioassay experimental design and several unresolved problems associated with research on allelopathy. The objectives of this article are to discuss problems related to (1)collection of allelopathic material for bioassay, (2)allelochemical quantification in bioassays, (3)selection of concentration of allelochemicals in bioassay, (4)selection of appropriate control, (5)interaction between allelochemicals and other substances, and (6)in situ allelochemical bioassays. We concluded that new experimental designs for in situ bioassay are needed that can account for the large number of confounding factors in a complex field environment, and can be linked to physiological monitoring of target species and biochemical monitoring of the growth medium.