Statistical analysis of the data
Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA followed by
Duncan post hoc tests using IBM SPSS Statistics 19.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY,
USA). The means were considered to be significantly different at the
level P < 0.05 according to the post hoc test. Before
performing ANOVA, the data were checked for normality and homogeneity of
variance; if the assumptions were not met, the data were log-transformed
and retested. Student’s test was used to analyze the significance of the
changes in stem photosynthesis in the invasive plants after defoliation.
The data are presented as the means and standard errors.