Resumen

GRANADOS-SANCHEZ, D.  y  LOPEZ-RIOS, G. F.. PHYTOGEOGRAPHY AND ECOLOGY OF THE Eucalyptus GENUS. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2007, vol.13, n.2, pp.143-156. ISSN 2007-4018.

In this work, the genus Eucalyptus was studied. This genus derives its name from the Greek words eu, that mean well, and kaluptos, that means place setting. These plants play an important role in the closed forests of southern Australia. In these forests, the Eucalyptus genera usually are trees of up to 200 years old, that constitute a stage of transition between the older natural forests damaged by fires and the closed pluvial forests. The eucalyptuses are native of Australia and some countries of Southeastern Asia, where they grow in very diverse conditions of rainfall and temperature. They are known more than 500 species of eucalyptuses. Some of trees have a height of up to 90 m, but in opened zones of short vegetation and little annual rainfall the dwarfed forms of eucalyptus are very current. These dwarfish forms are called “mallees”, and they are characterized for a long underground stem that allow them to survive the periods of drought. When Eucalyptus genus is planted outside his natural habitat, many of their species have shown a high degree of tolerance to extremes latitudes and altitudes. The first great plantations began in Brazil in 1904. At the present time, that country has more of a million hectares of plantations of eucalyptuses. More than 100 countries throughout the world cultivate eucalyptuses in plantations, countries like Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Argentina, the United States and many others.

Palabras llave : Australia; plantation; competition; phytogeography; ecology.

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