University of Tasmania
Browse

Competition between plantation Eucalyptus nitens and Acacia dealbata weeds in northeastern Tasmania

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 18:16 authored by Mark HuntMark Hunt, Battaglia, M, Neil Davidson, Gregory UnwinGregory Unwin
In this study, we investigated canopy structure, foliar gas exchange and water use in mixed stands of planted Eucalyptus nitens and naturally occurring Acacia dealbata in order to identify the presence or absence of competition. Early competition in A. dealbata was primarily for light but results from leaf level gas exchange and water use experiments indicated that individual eucalypts out-competed A. dealbata after several years. During early stand development (2-4 years), acacias and eucalypts occupied equivalent strata in the mixed canopy and exhibited similar leaf area indices (LAI). However, by 8 years of age, acacias were clearly subdominant and contributed only 20% of stand LAI. Both species exhibited similar maximum photosynthetic rates (about 25 μmol m-2 s-1) and neither species indicated adaptation to low-light sub-canopy environments. The onset of water stress responses occurred earlier in the day and earlier in the summer dry season for acacias than for eucalypts. Although the acacias occupied a limited temporal niche in the forest during young stand development, this interval provided sufficient time and opportunity for seed production. We concluded that periodic disturbance via plantation establishment maintains limited diversity in these eucalypt/acacia systems, eucalypts ultimately overtopping the acacias and out-competing them for light, until the next disturbance cycle again permits a brief period of intense competition. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

History

Publication title

Forest Ecology and Management

Volume

233

Issue

2-3

Pagination

260-274

ISSN

0378-1127

Department/School

School of Geography, Planning and Spatial Sciences

Publisher

Elsevier B.V.

Place of publication

The Netherlands

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Native forests

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC