Rainforest trees as a new crop for Australia

Species-site matching in mixed species plantations of native trees in tropical Australia

“…We analysed 10 focus species with contrasting growth to discern their sensitivity to soil and climate variables and identify soil characteristics as a major determinant for the growth of two rainforest species in plantations in the Queensland Wet Tropics. Poor growth rates for some promising species including F. brayleyana and E. grandis observed in the early years of some trials in North Queensland and a difficulty in identifying the cause of these poor performances, detracted from further investigation into their use in commercial forestry (Russell et al 1993). The data presented here shows that on suitable sites F. brayleyana and E. grandis exhibit adequate plantation growth rates that warrant further assessment of their potential in industrial scale mixed species plantations.…”

“…Various models of tropical rainforest obtain growth curves for tree species groups from measurements of permanent plots of multi-aged rainforest (Korning and Henrik 1994;Lieberman et al 1985;Vanclay 1991Vanclay , 1994. However it is often noted that the data required to define SI for less well known tree species in even aged plantations is generally lacking as these data sets are often fragmented due to poor record keeping and extend only for short periods at a given site Russell et al 1993).…”

“…The poor growth and survival of trees in some early CRRP plantations re-invigorated cynicism that growing rainforest timbers other than native Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) is uneconomic under Queensland conditions because of low growth rates (Russell et al 1993). However it has also been argued poor early performance of CRRP plantations can be attributed to poor site species matching, insufficient silvicultural knowledge and inadequate nursery stock (Vanclay 2006a).…”

“…Some analysis of CRRP sites has occurred Dickinson et al 2008;Vanclay 2006a) but there has been limited progress in the understanding of how to match species to site. General estimates of growth rates of the study species in the Wet Tropics have been predicted using expert opinion (Herbohn et al 1999;Russell et al 1993) by obtaining intuitive guesses of species-specific rotation times. A comparison of measured mean annual increment (MAI) in height across rainfall gradients and four soil categories highlighted the importance of matching species to site ), but did not allow sufficient prediction of productivity for existing plantations or plantations on new sites.…”

Complementary resource use by tree species in a rain forest tree plantation

“…Benefits of mixed-species plantations include improved soil fertility and nutrient cycling, reduced erosion (Binkley et al 1992, Montagnini 2002, Russell et al 2004, greater resilience against pests and diseases (Ewel 1986, Brown and Ewel 1987, Wazihullah et al 1996, diversity of high-value timber products and reduced market risk (Russell et al 1993, Lamb and Tomlinson 1994, Harrison et al 2000, improved landscape aesthetics (Herbohn et al 2005), provision of wildlife habitats or corridors, and restoration of biodiversity on degraded lands ). Further, mixed-species plantations can have higher biomass production and carbon (C) sequestration than monocultures (DeBell et al 1989, Forrester et al 2004.…”