Plant morphological traits and competition index comparisons of three invasive and native submerged plants

The submerged species Carolina fanwort ( Cabomba caroliniana ) has attracted considerable attention in Lake Taihu Basin (LTB), China. This was widely used as a garden plant until 2016, when it identified invasive. In this study, we conducted mesocosm experiment to compare the morphological traits, includingtotal dry mass, shoot/root (S/R) ratio, relative growth rate (RGR) and competition index log response ratio (ln RR ), of C. two frequently co-occurring native plants, water thyme Hydrilla verticillata Eurasian watermilfoil Myriophyllum spicatum ). results demonstrated that did not show more advantageous traits (higher total S/R RGR) or have lower ln than H. M. . We provide counterexample commonly accepted thought which successful invasion invasive may be explained by outcompeting plants. Other biotic abiotic factors determine must studied further.