Differences in the survival rate and growth characteristics of the stems between the invasive and native plants in isolated culture.
To further confirm that stem viability of the invasive species was different from that of the native species, their detached stem segments were cultured in petri dishes in a growth chamber (Figure 4). After 20 days of culturing, the survival rates of M. micrantha , P. lobata , P. scandens and P. nil were 100%, 100%, 90% and 11%, respectively (Figure 4b). In isolated culture conditions,M. micrantha preferentially developed roots compared with shoots, but the opposite was true for P. lobata and P. scandens . As a result, the length of M. micrantha roots was much greater than the length of the roots of the three native species (Figure 4c). Compared with the native species, M. micrantha had a higher ETR than (Figure 4d), which was in agreement with the results observed in the defoliation treatment.