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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2025, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (12): 134-144.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2025009

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Differences in leaf traits between invasive and native species of Asteraceae

Ting-ting LIU(), Jin-sheng LI, Jian-hua LIN, Dan-dan ZHANG, Wen-yu JIANG, Xu-rui ZHU, Zhen ZHANG()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Ecology and Green Development,College of Resources and Environment,Anhui Agricultural University,Hefei 230036,China
  • Received:2025-01-08 Revised:2025-03-10 Online:2025-12-20 Published:2025-10-20
  • Contact: Zhen ZHANG

Abstract:

Given the changes in the structure and composition of native plant communities caused by invasive species, along with their detrimental effects on biodiversity, this paper aims to investigate the differences in leaf anatomical structures and physiological and chemical traits between invasive plants and native plants of the Asteraceae family. The invasive species Solidago canadensisSonchus oleraceusErigeron annuus and the native species Lactuca indicaCirsium setosum were selected as representative species to determine if there are systematic leaf anatomical structure and physiological and chemical trait differences between invasive and native Asteraceae species. The results indicated that invasive plants exhibited a higher average cuticle thickness, palisade-sponge ratio, and cell tightness ratio compared to native plants. This suggests that invasive plants possess superior water retention ability and stress adaptability, compared to their native species counterparts. Furthermore, invasive species exhibit greater potential for photosynthesis and nutrient acquisition compared to native species, as evidenced by higher chlorophyll content, specific leaf area, and total nitrogen content than the native Asteraceae species. In addition, the results of redundancy analysis reveal a significant relationship between the anatomical structure of leaves and their physiological and chemical traits. Specifically, an increase in leaf thickness generally indicates greater light absorption, which enhances the photosynthetic efficiency of the leaves. Consequently, it is these advantageous characteristics that have enabled the invasive species to proliferate and colonize successfully.

Key words: Asteraceae, invasive plants, native plants, leaf anatomical structure, leaf physiological and chemical traits