Abstract:The earth's temperature is increasing, and species differ in their response to climate change depending on their environmental niche properties and physiological characteristics. As adaptable species, invasive plants may be favored to expand their geographical distribution, thus result in more harm. The focal species of this study was the highly invasive shrub, Lantana camara (Verbenaceae), occurring mostly between the latitudes of 35°N and 35°S. L. camara has been identified as one of the 100 world's most invasive alien species, as it has caused major problems, including decreasing native species diversity, reducing soil fertility, allelopathic alteration of soil properties, and alteration of ecosystem processes. Based on CLIMEX simulations, its potential distribution will expand in new areas under current and future climate scenarios. However, there is limited information on biomass allocation and allometric growth under different temperatures of this species. In this study, we conducted a pot experiment in which branch cuttings were grown at three different temperatures (22, 26, and 30℃) to explore the responses of L. camara to climate warming. The morphological variables, including biomass of different growth components, plant height, basal diameter of shoot, volume of root and shoot, and area of leaves were measured. The root-shoot ratio, stem-leaf ratio, leaf mass per area, petiole mass per length, and stem mass per length were calculated. The biomass allocation and configuration effect of L. camara under different temperatures were compared. Based on allometric scaling analysis, the allometric growth of L. camara growing in different greenhouses with different temperatures were studied. From the experiment, significant correlations and allometric relationships were found among growth components. We found that with increasing temperature, root biomass decreased, whereas shoot biomass and leaf area increased. The results suggested that L. camara increased its biomass investment of stems and expanded its leaves as much as possible, even with the decrease of leaf biomass allocation under higher temperatures, which enhances light capture and assimilation under warming. We concluded that L. camara effectively adapted growth strategies to benefit from global warming to compete with native species and improve its invasiveness, which would effectively expand its distribution.