Evidence of Allelopathy among Selected Moss Species with Lettuce and Radish

Abstract

There is limited evidence on bryophyte-tracheophyte allelopathic interactions. Even less is known about such relationships among commercially important plants and mosses. With the aim of screening such interactions, various extract concentrations of nine different mosses were tested on the seed germination and seedlings, i.e., hypocotyl elongation and total chlorophyll content of lettuce and radish. The allelopathic effects are documented to be pairwise (moss-vegetable) and species-specific. Based on the results, the extracts of Leucodon sciuroides and Dicranum polysetum are not harmful to lettuce and radish. Lower extract concentrations of Leucodon sciuroides and Ctenidium molluscum have a positive effect on lettuce development, while those of Thuidium delicatulum, Ctenidium molluscum, and Dicranum polysetum showed to be effective on radish. Further, negative effects were noticed when applying higher extract concentration of Abietinella abietina, Isothecium alopecuroides, Dicranum polysetum, and Racomitrium elongatum to lettuce and Isothecium alopecuroides to radish. The dataset presented in this study offers numerous possibilities for further target pest/vegetable type applications since some of the moss extracts are shown to be positive, negative, or indifferent to the tested features in lettuce and radish.