Absorbing Roots of Invasive Woody Plants Apparently Have A Thicker Cortex Parenchyma Compared to Native Species

Invasive plants are usually Fast-growing species with a high rate of physiological processes. However, the relative growth rate has not been estimated for many invasive species, including Acer negundo L. (Sapindaceae) and Amelanchier spicata (Lam.) K. Koch (Rosaceae); this hampers the understanding of the reasons for the success of their invasion. The authors compared the absorbing roots of A. negundo and A. spicata with respect to mycorrhizal colonization with two native woody species of the same families, Acer platanoides L. and Sorbus aucuparia L. The samples were collected from several sites in the Central Urals and analysed using standard morphological and anatomical methods. The abundance of arbuscular mycorrhiza,dark septate endophytes and root hairs did not differ between the invasive and native species. Nevertheless, the roots of the invasive species were shown to have a thicker cortex parenchyma formed by larger cells. We suggest that this could contribute to invasion success, but a higher growth rate of the roots of invasive species has not yet been proven. Keywords: Acer negundo, Amelanchier spicata, invasive plants, absorbing roots, arbuscular mycorrhiza, root cortex, parenchyma &nbsp