Czy oddziaływania allelopatyczne to "nowa broń" roślin inwazyjnych? Kontrowersje wokół badań dotyczących decydującej roli katechiny w inwazji Centaurea maculosa

Catechin, a putative allelochemical of Centaurea maculosa, has been proposed to mediate invasion of this species in the prairie of USA. It was earlier reported that catechin was present in high concentration in the soil, and may be lethal to neighboring plants. More detailed experiments carried out on soil samples taken from long-term knapweed infested sites in USA shaded doubt on the importance of this chemical in C. maculosa invasion success. The paper presents a comparison of the results obtained by the two opposite research groups investigating the hypothesis concerning possible involvement of catechin as a "novel weapon" in "allelopathic advantage against resident species".