Rhizosphere allelopathy

The rhizosphere is the environment in which roots function in the soil. This environment, created and managed by the roots themselves, is spatially and temporally heterogeneous. Rhizospheres develop, mature and senesce in parallel with developmental changes in adjacent regions of the subtending root and they remain as relics after root death, often as biopores, which in hard soils are occupied by many of the roots of the subsequent crop. To use allelopathy as an effective biological control in particular field environments, it is crucial to know more about how the production and effectiveness of specific allelochemicals are affected by developmental changes in the root and rhizosphere and by the placement of roots of donor and target plants in relation to their respective current and relic rhizospheres.