Chapter 14
The Impacts on Natural Vegetation
Following the Establishment of Exotic
Casuarina Plantations
Patricia Moreno-Casasola, M. Luisa Martínez, Gonzalo
Castillo-Campos and Adolfo Campos
14.1 Introduction
Casuarina equisetifolia Forst. (Casuarinaceae) (hereafter referred to as Casuarina)
also called Australian-pine or beach she-oak, is a nitrogen-fixing, medium to large
evergreen tree, 15–30 m or more high and with a diameter at breast height (DBM)
of up to 50 cm. It is native to the tropical and subtropical coastlines of Australia,
Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and New Caledonia. However, it has
become pantropical as its native range has expanded through its introduction and
later naturalization, because of its ability to reproduce in dense stands from
abundant self-seeding and its high tolerance to extreme environmental conditions,
such as drought and low nutrient availability. It is also tolerant to burial by sand. In
Mexico, the natural expansion of Casuarina on coastal dunes seems to be limited,
but nevertheless in the past decades this species was widely planted, and nowadays
it is considered as an invasive in the national invasive species inventory (MarchMifsut and Martínez-Jiménez 2007).
Casuarina plantations have frequently been used outside its distribution range in
order to stabilize coastal dunes in Senegal (Mailly and Margolis 1992) and Mexico;
for coastal protection (Mascarenhas and Jayakumar 2008); and in coastal dune
restoration projects (meaning revegetation) in India (Homji 1995), Cuba (Izquierdo
et al. 2005), Puerto Rico (Parrotta 1995), and Mexico (Espejel and Ojeda 1995).
P. Moreno-Casasola Á M. L. Martínez (&) Á A. Campos
Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Antigua Carretera a Coatepec no.
351 91070 El Haya, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico
e-mail: marisa.martinez@inecol.edu.mx
G. Castillo-Campos
Red de Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Antigua Carretera a Coatepec no. 351
91070 El Haya, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico
M. L. Martínez et al. (eds.), Restoration of Coastal Dunes, Springer Series
on Environmental Management, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-33445-0_14,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
217
The Impacts on Natural Vegetation
Following the Establishment of Exotic
Casuarina Plantations
Patricia Moreno-Casasola, M. Luisa Martínez, Gonzalo
Castillo-Campos and Adolfo Campos
14.1 Introduction
Casuarina equisetifolia Forst. (Casuarinaceae) (hereafter referred to as Casuarina)
also called Australian-pine or beach she-oak, is a nitrogen-fixing, medium to large
evergreen tree, 15–30 m or more high and with a diameter at breast height (DBM)
of up to 50 cm. It is native to the tropical and subtropical coastlines of Australia,
Southeast Asia, Melanesia, Polynesia, and New Caledonia. However, it has
become pantropical as its native range has expanded through its introduction and
later naturalization, because of its ability to reproduce in dense stands from
abundant self-seeding and its high tolerance to extreme environmental conditions,
such as drought and low nutrient availability. It is also tolerant to burial by sand. In
Mexico, the natural expansion of Casuarina on coastal dunes seems to be limited,
but nevertheless in the past decades this species was widely planted, and nowadays
it is considered as an invasive in the national invasive species inventory (MarchMifsut and Martínez-Jiménez 2007).
Casuarina plantations have frequently been used outside its distribution range in
order to stabilize coastal dunes in Senegal (Mailly and Margolis 1992) and Mexico;
for coastal protection (Mascarenhas and Jayakumar 2008); and in coastal dune
restoration projects (meaning revegetation) in India (Homji 1995), Cuba (Izquierdo
et al. 2005), Puerto Rico (Parrotta 1995), and Mexico (Espejel and Ojeda 1995).
P. Moreno-Casasola Á M. L. Martínez (&) Á A. Campos
Red de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Antigua Carretera a Coatepec no.
351 91070 El Haya, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico
e-mail: marisa.martinez@inecol.edu.mx
G. Castillo-Campos
Red de Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C, Antigua Carretera a Coatepec no. 351
91070 El Haya, Xalapa, Ver, Mexico
M. L. Martínez et al. (eds.), Restoration of Coastal Dunes, Springer Series
on Environmental Management, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-33445-0_14,
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
217