IntroductionPlants display exceptionally intelligent behavior when it comes to interactions with their environment. They can detect perceived threats, then transmit alarm signals to other plants via chemical signals. The warned plants will then mount their defenses against these potential threats, thus increasing their chances of survival and reproduction. Communication and competition are common occurrences in the plant world. Another brilliant, almost inconceivable ability that plants possess is the ability to recognize family members coexisting within their territory. These intelligent life forms realize that if family members compete less with each other in the allocation of their resources, their group will do better overall. This is a strategy used by many species, particularly plants, to eliminate competition within their community in nature (Mancuso 2006). Competition can occur between members of the same species or between different species. The individuals involved are negatively influenced by other individuals who have the same life needs, such as food or space. Interspecific competition occurs when members of different species compete for a particular resource. Intraspecific competition occurs when members of the same species compete with each other for a particular resource (Encyclopedia Britannica 2010). In this experiment we focus on interspecific competition. We measured the effect of competitor density on plant growth to observe the outcome of interspecific competition. In the first set (of two), our group used allelopathic ryegrass (Secale cereal L.) as a competing species. In the second set, we used non-allelopathic oats (Avena fatua var. sativa) as specified by our competitor...... middle of paper... potting soil. This demonstrates that a pathogen can influence allelopathy between plants and that rust can increase the allelopathy of ryegrass versus clover (Mattner 2001). Our results support the alternative hypothesis that the density and weight of rye or oats (competitor species) have a significant effect on the l1/w of clover (indicator species) under normal conditions. This shows that nonlegumes win when in interspecific competition with a legume species, and allelopathic chemicals negatively affect indicator species during interspecific competition (Cain 2008). Errors that may have occurred during the design of this experiment include possible fluctuations in non-uniform distribution of light, water, or temperature. For future research I would suggest looking at the effects of allelopathy and symbiotic bacteria between different legume and non-legume species.