Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India.
Environ Monit Assess. 2011 Jul;178(1-4):415-22. doi: 10.1007/s10661-010-1700-4. Epub 2010 Sep 17.
Morphological (easily measureable) and physiological (hard to measure) traits of two closely related invasive alien congeners-Ageratum conyzoides L. and Ageratum houstonianum Mill. were studied with a perspective that which species will be potentially be more successful as an invader in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Leaf construction cost (LCC) is considered as a quantifiable measure of energy demand for biomass production and is related to energy use efficiency as it include component of both morphological and physiological traits. We hypothesised that a low LCC would give the invaders growth advantage by utilizing energy efficiently. Low LCC of A. houstonianum on mass basis (0.54 g glucose g( -1)) and area basis (20.48 g m( -2)) gives insight into the success of this invasive weed over A. conyzoides. The present study gives evidence that how the morphological traits are linked to physiological traits that could directly affect invasive attributes of the invader, which in turn would be crucial to prioritize species for ecosystem management.
我们研究了两种密切相关的入侵外来同属植物（青葙和霍霍巴）的形态（易于测量）和生理（难以测量）特征，其视角是哪种物种将更有可能成为印度印度-恒河平原的入侵物种。叶片构建成本（LCC）被认为是衡量生物量生产所需能量的可量化指标，并且与能量利用效率相关，因为它包括形态和生理特征的组成部分。我们假设低 LCC 通过有效利用能量为侵略者提供生长优势。基于质量（0.54 g 葡萄糖 g(-1)) 和面积（20.48 g m(-2)) 的 A. houstonianum 的低 LCC 使我们了解到这种入侵杂草比 A. conyzoides 更成功。本研究提供了证据，说明形态特征如何与生理特征相关联，这可能直接影响侵略者的入侵属性，这反过来又对生态系统管理中优先考虑物种至关重要。
