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‘Antibiotic Effects’ in Plant Communities

Abstract

FAILURE of Araucaria cunninghamii Sweet, to regenerate in secondary rain-forest dominated by Backhousia angustifolia F. Muell. has been observed near Maryborough, Queensland. A plausible explanation of this observation appeared to lie in the widely discussed possibility1 that a plant may interfere with the establishment of adjacent species in a natural community by releasing ‘antibiotics’, either from living roots or from decomposing surface debris.

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References

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CANNON, J., CORBETT, N., HAYDOCK, K. et al. ‘Antibiotic Effects’ in Plant Communities. Nature 190, 189–190 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/190189a0

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