Australian Pine Research Paper

One of the major invasive species here in Florida is Australian pine. Australian pine trees threaten beach plant communities as they quickly invade beaches. They have also invaded Everglades. These trees produce a dense leaf litter beneath them thereby outcompeting native vegetation. They have shallow root systems and hence tend to uproot and topple during high winds and pose a significant hazard to coastal storm evacuation routes. Australian pine forests provide little or no native wildlife habitat.
Australian Pines’ success is so bad for Florida that it has replaced the normal ecosystem of plants and animals that used to inhabit beaches and many other areas. Loggerhead turtles, green sea turtles and American crocodiles have lost nesting sites on sandy beaches above the high tide line where "pines" have colonized. Farther inland the "pines" have displaced marsh rabbits, gopher tortoises, and many bird species that depend upon the native plants that were out-competed. Australian pines also contributed immense damage in our recent
In some places around the globe, it is a severe pest. We've probably made it a bigger pest than it might have been naturally, because we've selectively bred it for increased seed production. Castor bean was sold in Florida until 2001, when the state's commercial nurseries agreed among themselves to ban its sale, but it's still extremely common. Castor bean has escaped cultivation and established in waste areas, the edges of cultivated fields, canal banks, etc., in South Florida, but it has not become a serious pest weed. Castor bean is one of 34 species that the Florida Nursery Grower's Association's Board of Directors voted unanimously in March 2001 to no longer propagate, sell or use in Florida. The California Exotic Pest Plant Council includes castor bean on their List B, defined as a wildland pest plant of lesser invasiveness than those on List