Biochemical Basis for Plant Competition

A survey has been made of the literature on biochemical characteristics of plants with particular emphasis on factors affecting photosynthesis. From these characteristics, plants have been divided into two groups, efficient and non-efficient. This division is justified on the basis of data published by numerous workers. A hypothesis has been developed that efficient plants often have been used in agriculture because of their high production, but efficient plants also are very competitive and the observation has been made that almost all weeds which have been tested are members of the efficient groups of plants. This hypothesis is discussed and some general conclusions have been advanced related to plant breeding, development of herbicides to inhibit specific biochemical reactions, ecology, and increasing food production.