Further studies on a native Australian eucalypt forest invaded by exotic pines

Pinus radiata is spreading from plantations into some types of native eucalypt forest. A broad transect through one heavily invaded site was mapped in 1974 and re-examined after intervals of time. In 1977 the adjacent pine plantation was clear-felled for commercial purposes. By 1981 it was clear that the pines that had already invaded the eucalypt forest were contributing their own progeny to the mixed stand. However, the rate of recruitment is slow due to high seedling mortality. Comparative measurements have shown that during the period 1974-1981 the growth rate of pines established among the eucalypts was approximately ten times greater than that of the native trees.