Elevated CO2 Concentrations and Water Stress Affect the Ability of Italian Ryegrass to Remediate Herbicides and Enhance its Allelopathic Effect

ABSTRACT: The long temporal persistence of select herbicides negatively impacts crops sown in succession to irrigated rice. One way to reduce these compounds in the soil over time is through phytoremediation. However, elevated CO2 concentrations may interfere with the phytoremediation process. Another consequence of climate change is the production of allelopathic compounds by forage species used as remedial agents. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of elevated CO2 concentration and drought stress on the remediation of soil samples contaminated with imazapyr + imazapic herbicides by Italian ryegrass and any subsequential affect on the allelopathic effect of this species. We report that the increasing CO2 decreased the phytoremediation potential of ryegrass. Water stress combined with a CO2 concentration of 700 µmol mol-1 caused increased allelopathy. Overall, these are the first data to indicate a significant effect of higher CO2 levels with respect to both phytoremediation efficacy and allelopathic potential of the plant species used in phytoremediation.