Biological invasions have become one of the most severe globally environmental problems with the progress of the global economic integration. Alien invasive species may affect species composition, structure and function of the invaded ecosystems and cause significant environmental damage and economic loss worldwide. Many studies have been conducted to develop the methods and techniques of managing and controlling invasive species. But relatively few studies have been conducted with the attempt to understand the invasiveness of alien species, especially those in terms of ecophysiological traits. Leaf phenology including the times of emergence and fall, longevity and the agedependent developmental process is the adaptive strategy for a plant to maximize carbon accumulation in seasonally and/or nonseasonally changing environments. Leaf construction cost is the necessary investment for carbon gain, reflecting the energy allocation strategy at leaf level. Leaf payback time can also reflect the situation of carbon gain of a plant to a certain extent. Carbon gain may be associated with the invasiveness of alien plants, which can increase carbon gain through increasing leaf longevity, decreasing construction cost and payback time. In this paper, we reviews the effects of resource capture ability and cost on carbon accumulation in alien invasive plants in terms of leaf phenology, construction cost and payback time and put forward some problems that deserve being studied in the future.