Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Searching for Heracleum mantegazzianum allelopathy in vitro and in a garden experiment

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

One theory concerning the invasiveness of exotic plants suggests that they exude phytotoxic compounds that are novel in areas being invaded. For most invasive plants, however, little is known about the effects of their bioactive chemicals and how novel they are in invaded areas. From a methodological point of view, it also remains largely untested whether phytotoxicity found in vitro translates into allelopathic effects in more complex ecological settings. In this study, we tested for allelopathic effects of root exudates of the invasive plant Heracleum mantegazzianum (giant hogweed), its native congener Heracleum sphondylium (common hogweed) and two less-related native species. We also performed chemical analyses of the invader’s root exudates to identify bioactive compounds. We found that root exudates of H. mantegazzianum contain allelopathic compounds which are not likely to be furanocoumarins, but other as yet unidentified molecules. Allelopathy of the invader detected in vitro conditions and in our garden experiment did not, however, differ from the allelopathy of the native species tested. A meta-analysis of two independent garden experiments indicated significantly negative, though similar, phytotoxic effects of H. mantegazzianum, its native congener and Dactylis glomerata in the absence of activated carbon. Our study thus indicates that allelopathy by producing unique compounds, as predicted by the novel weapons hypothesis, is not a principal driver of the invasion success of H. mantegazzianum.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abhilasha Quintana DN, Vivanco J, Joshi J (2008) Do allelopathic compounds in invasive Solidago canadensis s.l. restrain the native European flora? J Ecol 96:993–1001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bais HP, Vepachedu R, Gilroy S, Callaway RM, Vivanco JM (2003) Allelopathy and exotic plants: from genes to invasion. Science 301:1377–1380

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baskin JM, Ludlow CJ, Harris TM, Wolf FT (1967) Psoralen, an inhibitor in the seeds of Psoralea subacaulis (Leguminoseae). Phytochemistry 6:1209–1213

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Berenbaum M (1981) Patterns of furanocoumarin distribution and insect herbivory in the umbelliferae—plant chemistry and community structure. Ecology 62:1254–1266. doi:10.2307/1937290

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bertin C, Weston LA, Huang T, Jander G, Owens T, Meinwald J, Schroeder FC (2007) Grass roots chemistry: meta-Tyrosine, an herbicidal nonprotein amino acid. PNAS 104:16964–16969. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707198104

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blair AC, Nissen SJ, Brunk GR, Hufbauer RA (2006) A lack of evidence for an ecological role of the putative allelochemical (±)-catechin in spotted knapweed invasion success. J Chem Ecol 32:2327–2331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Blair AC, Weston LA, Nissen SJ, Brunk GR, Hufbauer RA (2009) The importance of analytical techniques in allelopathy studies with the reported allelochemical catechin as an example. Biol Invasions 11:325–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blossey B, Notzgold R (1995) Evolution of increased competitive ability in invasive non-indigenous plants: a hypothesis. J Ecol 83:887–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins JPT, Rothstein HR (2009) Introduction to meta-analysis. Wiley, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Aschehoug ET (2000) Invasive plants versus their new and old neighbors: a mechanism for exotic invasion. Science 290:521–523

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Callaway RM, Ridenour WM (2004) Novel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of increased competitive ability. Front Ecol Environ 2:436–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cappuccino N, Arnason JT (2006) Novel chemistry of invasive exotic plants. Biol Lett 2:189–193

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Casinovi CG, Cerrini S, Motl O, Fardella G, Walter F et al (1983) On terpenes 274. The structure of a new sesquiterpene siol acetate from Sium latifolium L. Collect Czech Chem C 48:2411–2422

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Catford JA, Jansson R, Nilsson C (2009) Reducing redundancy in invasion ecology by integrating hypotheses into a single theoretical framework. Divers Distrib 15:22–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colautti RI, Ricciardi A, Grigorovich IA, MacIsaac HJ (2004) Is invasion success explained by the enemy release hypothesis? Ecol Lett 7:721–733

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crawley MJ (2007) The R Book. Wiley, Chichester

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Del Fabbro C, Güsewell S, Prati D (2014) Allelopathic effects of three plant invaders on germination of native species: a field study. Biol Invasions 16:1035–1042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dostál P (2011) Plant competitive interactions and invasiveness: searching for the effects of phylogenetic relatedness and origin on competition intensity. Am Nat 177:655–667

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dostál P, Müllerová J, Pyšek P, Pergl J, Klinerová T (2013) The impact of an invasive plant changes over time. Ecol Lett 16:1277–1284

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Duke SO (2010) Allelopathy: current status of research and future of the discipline: a commentary. Allelopathy J 25:17–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Eppinga MB, Rietkerk M, Dekker SC, Ruiter PCD, van der Putten WH (2006) Accumulation of local pathogens: a new hypothesis to explain exotic plant invasions. Oikos 114:168–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer FC, Van Doorne H, Dannenberg G (1978) Glycosides and glycosidase in Heracleum mantegazzianum—their possible role in resistance against fungi. In: Cauwet-Marc AM, Carbonnier J (eds) Actes du 2e Symposium International sur les Ombelliferes. CNRS, Perpignan, pp 783–792

    Google Scholar 

  • Garcia C, Moyna P, Fernandez G, Heinzen H (2002) Allelopathic activity of Ammi majus L. fruit waxes. Chemoecology 12:107–111

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harborne JB (1971) Flavonoid and phenylpropanoid patterns in the Umbelliferae. Bot J Linnean Soc 64(Suppl. 1):293–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Hattendorf J, Hansen SO, Nentwig W (2007) Defense system of Heracleum mantegazzianum. In: Pyšek P, Cock MJW, Nentwig W, Ravn HP (eds) Ecology and management of giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). CAB International, Wallingford, pp 209–225

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hejda M, Pyšek P, Jarošík V (2009) Impact of invasive plants on the species richness, diversity and composition of invaded communities. J Ecol 97:393–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herde A (2005) Untersuchung der Cumarinmuster in Fruchten ausgewahlter Apiaceae. Dissertation, University of Hamburg

  • Hierro JL, Callaway RM (2003) Allelopathy and exotic plant invasion. Plant Soil 256:29–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1950) The water-culture method for growing plants without soil. Calif Agric Exp Stn 347:1–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Inderjit, Nilsen ET (2003) Bioassays and field studies for allelopathy in terrestrial plants: progress and problems. Crit Rev Plant Sci 22:221–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inderjit, Seastedt TR, Callaway RM, Pollock JL, Kaur J (2008) Allelopathy and plant invasions: traditional, congeneric, and bio-geographical approaches. Biol Invasions 10:875–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivie GW (1978) Toxicological significance of plant furocoumarins. In: Keeler RF, van Kamper KR, James LF (eds) Effects of poisonous plants on livestock. Academic Press, New York, pp 475–485

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jahodová S, Trybush S, Pyšek P, Wade M, Karp A (2007) Invasive species of Heracleum in Europe: an insight into genetic relationships and invasion history. Divers Distrib 13:99–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jain SR (1969) Investigations on essential oil of Heracleum mantegazzianum L. Planta Med 17:230–235

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jandová K, Klinerová T, Müllerová J, Pyšek P, Pergl J, Cajthaml T, Dostál P (2014) Long-term impact of Heracleum mantegazzianum invasion on soil chemical and biological characteristics. Soil Biol Biochem 68:270–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joshi J, Vrieling K (2005) The enemy release and EICA hypothesis revisited: incorporating the fundamental difference between specialist and generalist herbivores. Ecol Lett 8:704–714

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junttila O (1975) Allelopathy in Heracleum laciniatum: inhibition of lettuce seed germination and root growth. Physiol Plant 33:22–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junttila O (1976) Allelopathic inhibitors in seeds of Heracleum laciniatum. Physiol Plant 36:374–378

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kartesz JT, Meacham CA (1999) Synthesis of the North American Flora, Version 1.0. North Carolina Botanical Garden, Chapel Hill, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaur H, Kaur R, Kaur S, Baldwin IT, Inderjit (2009) Taking ecological function seriously: soil microbial communities can obviate allelopathic effects of released metabolites. PloS One 4:e4700

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kavli G, Krokan H, Midelfart K, Volden G, Raa J (1983) Extraction, separation, quantification and evaluation of the phototoxic potency of furocoumarins in different parts of Heracleum laciniatum. Photobioch Photobiop 5:159–168

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keane RM, Crawley MJ (2002) Exotic plant invasions and the enemy release hypothesis. Trends Ecol Evol 17:164–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • KNApSAcK (2014) A Comprehensive Species-Metabolite Relationship Database. Version 1.000.01 (2008/06/23). Accessed 28 Apr 2014

  • Lankau R (2010) Soil microbial communities alter allelopathic competition between Alliaria petiolata and a native species. Biol Invasions 12:2059–2068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lankau RA, Nuzzo V, Spyreas G, Davis AS (2009) Evolutionary limits ameliorate the negative impact of an invasive plant. PNAS 106:15362–15367

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lind EM, Parker JD (2010) Novel weapons testing: Are invasive plants more chemically defended than native plants? Plos One 5:e10429

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Macias FA, Galindo JCG, Massanet GM, Rodriguez-Luis F, Zubia E (1993) Allelochemicals from Pilocarpus goudotianus leaves. J Chem Ecol 19:1371–1379

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miski M, Mabry T (1985) Daucane esters from Ferula communis subsp. communis. Phytochemistry 24:1735–1742

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Molho D, Jossang P, Jarreau MC, Carbonnier J (1971) Derives furannocoumariniques du genre Heracleum. Bot J Linnean Soc 64(Suppl. 1):337–360

    Google Scholar 

  • Müllerová J, Pyšek P, Jarošík V, Pergl J (2005) Aerial photographs as a tool for assessing the regional dynamics of the invasive plant species Heracleum mantegazzianum. J Appl Ecol 42:1042–1053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Myras H, Junttila O (1981) Interaction between Heracleum laciniatum and some other plants. Holarctic Ecol 4:43–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen BE (1971) Coumarin patterns in the Umbelliferae. Bot J Linnean Soc 64(Suppl. 1):325–336

    Google Scholar 

  • Page NA, Wall RE, Darbyshire SJ, Mulligan GA (2006) The biology of invasive alien plants in Canada. 4. Heracleum mantegazzianum Sommier & Levier. Can J Plant Sci 86:569–589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandita K, Agarwal SG, Thappa RK, Dhar KL (1984) 1-alpha-acetoxy-6-alpha-hydroxy-9-oxo-carot-2-ene, a new derivative from Sium latijugum seeds. Indian J Chem B 23:956–957

    Google Scholar 

  • Pergl J, Mullerová J, Perglová I, Herben T, Pyšek P (2011) The role of long-distance seed dispersal in the local population dynamics of an invasive plant species. Divers Distrib 17:725–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perglová I, Pergl J, Pyšek P (2006) Flowering phenology and reproductive effort of the invasive alien plant Heracleum mantegazzianum. Preslia 78:265–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Prati D, Bossdorf O (2004) Allelopathic inhibition of germination by Alliaria petiolata (Brassicaceae). Am J Bot 91:285–288

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pyšek P, Pyšek A (1995) Invasion by Heracleum mantegazzianum in different habitats in the Czech Republic. J Veg Sci 6:711–718

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2011) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria

    Google Scholar 

  • Reaxys database (2014) version 2.15212.2, Elsevier. Accessed 28 Apr 2014

  • Sheppard AW (1991) Biological flora of the British Isles: Heracleum sphondylium L. J Ecol 79:235–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thiele J, Otte A (2007) Impact of Heracleum mantegazzianum on invaded vegetation and human activities. In: Pyšek P, Cock MJW, Nentwig W, Ravn HP (eds) Ecology and management of giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum). CAB International, Wallingford

    Google Scholar 

  • Thiele J, Kollmann J, Markussen B, Otte A (2010) Impact assessment revisited: improving the theoretical basis for management of invasive alien species. Biol Invasions 12:2025–2035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tiley GED, Dodd FS, Wade PM (1996) Heracleum mantegazzianum Sommier et Levier. J Ecol 84:297–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viechtbauer W (2010) Conducting meta-analyses in R with the metafor package. J Stat Softw 36:1–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Wille W, Thiele J, Walker EA, Kollmann J (2013) Limited evidence for allelopathic effects of giant hogweed on germination of native herbs. Seed Sci Res. doi:10.1017/S096025851300007X

    Google Scholar 

  • Yi T, Zhang L, Fu HW, Yang SL, Tian JK (2009) Two new guaiane sesquiterpenes from the fruits of Daucus carota. Helv Chim Acta 92:2769–2773

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grant P504/10/0132 from the Czech Science Foundation and grant GAUK512712 from the Charles University Grant Agency. Zdeněk Kameník from the Laboratory for Biology of Secondary Metabolism, Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic carried out the LC–MS analyses. Frederick Rooks kindly improved our English. We thank Tereza Klinerová, Zdena Křesinová, Dana Parysová and Daniel Samek for their technical assistance, Lenka Moravcová for her advice during the germination experiments and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science, Institute for Environmental Studies, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Kateřina Jandová & Tomáš Cajthaml

  2. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 252 43, Průhonice, Czech Republic

    Kateřina Jandová & Petr Dostál

  3. Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Vídeňská 1083, 142 20, Prague 4, Czech Republic

    Tomáš Cajthaml

Authors
  1. Kateřina Jandová
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Petr Dostál
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tomáš Cajthaml
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kateřina Jandová.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jandová, K., Dostál, P. & Cajthaml, T. Searching for Heracleum mantegazzianum allelopathy in vitro and in a garden experiment. Biol Invasions 17, 987–1003 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0771-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0771-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation