Herbaceous vegetation in the Chilean matorral : Dynamics of growth and evaluation of allelopathic effects of some dominant shrubs.

The phenology, growth, and productivity of 7 species of the understory vegetation of the matorral zone of Central Chile were studied. The activity of the herb strata lasts about 6 months, starting soon after the first rain of the season: most of their vegetative growth occurs between early June and mid-September. Experimental plots designed in the field with leaf litter of some dominant shrubs showed no indication of the presence of allelopathic compounds that inhibit either germination or growth of the annual species in the matorral.