We present a unified and systematic approach to basic principles of Arbology, a new algorithmic discipline focusing on algorithms on trees. Stringology, a highly developed algorithmic discipline in the area of string processing, can use finite automata as its basic model of computation. For various kinds of linear notations of ranked and unranked ordered trees it holds that subtrees of a tree in a linear notation are substrings of the tree in the linear notation. Arbology uses pushdown automata reading such linear notations of trees as its basic model of computation. Basic principles known from stringology are used for the construction of particular arbology algorithms, in which the underlying tree structure is processed with the use of the pushdown store. Arbology results are shown for the basic problems subtree matching and tree indexing for ranked and unranked ordered trees.
Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis is the most frequent and ancestral type of mycorrhizal symbiosis. It is estimated that at least 80% of terrestrial plant species are able to form a mutualistic relation with fungi. Consequently in the context of successful plant invasions, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi may have a favourable if not a crucial role. The mycorrhizal status of 23 invasive species is reported here for the first time. This study also tested whether the intensity of mycorrhizal colonization of the roots of invasive species is related to that of the dominant species of invaded plant community. This is partly supported by our results when total percentages of mycorrhizal colonization were compared. In addition, the effect of habitat and community characteristics on the intensity of colonization of the roots of invasive species by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi was tested and several significant correlations were revealed. At the among-species level, the total mycorrhizal colonization decreases and the relative arbuscular colonization increases in the roots of invasive species with increasing nitrogen availability in the habitat. Both these relations are significant after phylogenetic correction, which suggests this is an evolutionary adaptation. There are also negative correlations between the relative arbuscular colonization of invading species and the light and temperature demands of the species present in the community, and a positive correlation between the relative arbuscular colonization of the invaders and soil wetness. That all these relations are revealed at the within-species level possibly reflects differences among the habitats studied.