Insights into the Reproductive Allocation Strategy of Different Invasive Plants
[1]
Lei Wang , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[2]
Congyan Wang , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[3]
Hongguang Xiao , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[4]
Yanchun Shi , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[5]
Fei Zhang , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[6]
Lulu Zhao , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
[7]
Daolin Du , Institute of Environment and Ecology, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, P. R. China.
Previous studies showed that the main reason for the successful plant invasion was that those intruders have the characteristic such as fecundity and high-efficiency multiple reproduction modes. This study aims to provide a relatively complete depiction of reproductive allocation strategy of different invasive plants. In this study, four invasive plants (Setaria anceps, Erigeron annuus, E. canadensis, and Phytolacca Americana, respectively) and one native species (S. geniculata) were chosen. The results showed that reproductive allocation coefficient of E. canadensis and E. annuus were significant higher than that of S. geniculata. This means that reproductive allocation behavior may play a key role in the successful invasion of the two invasive plants. Plant height is one of such important characteristics that affect reproductive allocation of plants significantly, and the plant with higher height could possess higher branch number, reproductive branch number, total fruit number, and reproductive investment intensity as well as reproductive allocation coefficient. Biomass did not show a close relationship with reproductive allocation strategy of plants. Plant with higher biomass acquires a lower reproductive allocation coefficient, and the plant with medium biomass obtains a higher reproductive allocation coefficient unexpectedly. From the study it was also observed that crown diameter, the maximum length of branch, and the maximum angle of branch were positively correlated with total biomass, aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, and vegetative biomass. This may indicate that the crown diameter, the maximum length of branch, and the maximum angle of branch may be important factors which could decide plants expansion and ability to gain more living space and resources (especially light).
Invasiveness, Invasive Plants, Reproductive Allocation Strategy
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