ALLELOPATHY AND ITS POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS IN RIGHT-OF-WAY MANAGEMENT

The use of herbicides for control of undesirable vegetation along highway, railroad, and utility rights-of-way has been a valuable tool for many years. As energy and labor have become more expensive so have mowing and hand clearing of brush, and a greater dependence on herbicide use has been created. Today, however, environmental concerns about herbicides are threatening their usefulness for the future. Herbicide programs as they exist today will undoubtedly be cut substantially or eliminated completely in many states. It is becoming increasingly urgent that alternatives to longstanding vegetation maintenance practices be developed. A greater understanding of chemical ecology, and more specifically allelopathy, may well lead to the development of more economical and environmentally sound right-of-way maintenance practices. Allelopathy is defined as any direct or indirect harmful effect by one plant on another through production of chemical compounds that escape into the environment. It is hypothesized that if allelopathy is a wideranging phenomenon involving many plant species, it will be possible to find individual plants that can be used to establish stable communities capable of preventing the encroachment of undersirable species.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1984/969/969-005.pdf
• Summary URL:
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Landscape and Environmental Design.
• Authors:
  • Foster Jr, Richard E
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 27-31
• Monograph Title: Wetlands and roadside management
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 969
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Ecology; Herbicides; Maintenance; Roadside; Vegetation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Right of way
• Old TRIS Terms: Allelopathy
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Planning and Forecasting; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00394938
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309037514
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM