The unnatural history of the Monterey pine

Once a relict species, the Monterey pine is now the preeminent timber tree of maritime temperate lands. Plantation forestry has become a remarkable economic success in Chile, and predictions of disease in pine monocultures remain unfulfilled. The issue of ecological sustainability is unresolved. A broad view of sustainability, extended to include the livelihoods of the rural population, requires a new model of forestry to supplement the plantation model in densely populated rural areas. The article proposes a possible ecology of exotic species in Chilean Araucania.