Root growth characteristics and competitive effects of Ageratina adenophora and four functional type herbaceous plants.

A field experiment was conducted to explore the root competitive effects of Ageratina adenophora and Setaria sphacelata, S. yunnanensis, Eupatorium fortunei, Chenopodium serotinum in monoculture and mixture, and the relative competitive abilities were evaluated. The results showed that the root length, superficial area and volume of A. adenophora in mixture were lower than in monoculture, but those of S. sphacelata were higher in mixture than in monoculture. The biomass of A. adenophora in mixture decreased by 77.1% and that of S. sphacelata increased by 80.4% compared with those in monoculture. The relative yield and competitive balance index of S. sphacelata were significantly higher than those of A. adenophora, and the relative yield was about 1.0, suggesting that the underground competitive ability of S. sphacelata was higher than A. adenophora. The root morphology of S. yunnanensis in monoculture and mixture was higher than those of A. adenophora, but the root morphology of two species in mixture was lower than in monoculture. The biomass of A. adenophora and S. yunnanensis in mixture decreased by 45.3% and 22.8% compared with those in monoculture, respectively. Competition effect parameters showed that A. adenophora was a mutual antagonism with S. yunnanensis. The root morphology of E. fortunei and A. adenophora in mixture showed no significant difference compared with that in monoculture. The biomass of A. adenophora and E. fortunei was lower than that in monoculture, respectively. Competition effect parameters showed that A. adenophora was a superior competitor. In the mixture of A. adenophora and C. serotinum, the root morphology parameters and competitive ability of A. adenophora were superior to those of C. serotinum. Above all, S. sphacelata is a preference plant material to control the A. adenophorum invasion and recover biodiversity in A. adenophorum invasion fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]