Introduced versus native plants in austral forests

Abstract

Despite the concern of some nineteenth- and early twentieth-century biologists, relatively few alien species have become established in undisturbed forests of Australia, Madagascar or New Zealand. All three countries have large 'naturalized' floras adapted to frequent disturbance. The short-term advantages of these alien plants - short life cycles, fast growth, abundant seed and plasticity of habit - have allowed them to cover large areas of disturbed ground and to coexist with native plants in early successional vegetation. Very few persist in mature forest. The threat to the austral forests is human disturbance, and there is need for research on the native plants which perform the specialized role of repairing canopy after disturbance.