ALLELOPATHIC EFFECTS OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS FROM DIFFERENT PLANT PARTS OF CANADA GOLDENROD (SOLIDAGO CANADENSIS L.) ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF KOREAN LAWNGRASS (ZOYSIA JAPONICA STEUD).

The invasion mechanism of Solidago canadensis L., been extensively investigated as its one of the most destructive exotic invasive plants. The present study showed that allelopathy is beneficial to the successful invasion of invasive alien species (IAS). However, the main allelopathic part of S. canadensis L. is less known to the researchers. Therefore, we experimented with the allelopathic effects of extracts obtained from various parts of S. canadensis L. (root, litter, aboveground parts) at concentrations of 50 g L -1 and 150 g L-1 on seed germination and seedling growth of Zoysia japonica Steud. The results showed that the extract from the S. canadensis L. aboveground parts had prominent inhibition effects on Zoysiagrass seed germination rate, germination potential, vigour value, root length and plant height, and the suppression increased significantly at high concentrations. With the treatment of aqueous extract from the aboveground parts of S. canadensis L. (50 g L-1 ), the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and peroxidase (POD) activity increased significantly. The root extract at the concentration of 50 g L-1 did not affect the parameters except POD activity, but the concentration of 150 g L-1 inhibited all the parameters significantly except catalase (CAT) activity. Litter aqueous extracts did not show any significant effect on any parameters of Zoysia japonica Steud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]