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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Lauderdale, Florida » Invasive Plant Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #166729
Title: INVASION HISTORY OF MELALEUCA QUINQUENERVIA (CAV.) S.T. BLAKE IN FLORIDA

Author
item Dray, F Allen
item BENNETT, BRADLEY - FL INT'L UNIVERSITY
item Center, Ted

Submitted to: Castanea
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/26/2005
Publication Date: 9/11/2006
Citation: Dray Jr, F.A., Bennett, B.C., Center, T.D. 2006. Invasion history of melaleuca quinquenervia (cav.) S.T. Blake in Florida. Castanea. 71(3): 210-225.

Interpretive Summary: The Australian punk tree Melaleuca quinquenervia is a notorious invasive weed that threatens the biological integrity of Florida's Everglades ecosystems. A comprehensive plan initiated to manage M. quinquenervia includes an ambitious biological control program, and as part of this program we investigated the origins and invasion history of M. quinquenervia in Florida. Scrutiny of public and private records showed that extant populations derive from more than a dozen introductions, with the earliest occurring during 1886 in Sarasota County. Six sources, some Australian and some extra-Australian, have contributed to Florida's populations. The tree became naturalized in southern Florida during the 1920s, but a paucity of records makes it difficult to determine when naturalized populations began to proliferate via an exponential growth phase. Human distribution of seeds and seedlings is a confounding factor in attempting to decipher rates of M. quinquenervia invasion.

Technical Abstract: The Australian punk tree Melaleuca quinquenervia is a notorious invasive weed that threatens the biological integrity of Florida's Everglades ecosystems. A comprehensive plan initiated to manage M. quinquenervia includes an ambitious biological control program, and as part of this program we investigated the origins and invasion history of M. quinquenervia in Florida. Scrutiny of public and private records showed that extant populations derive from more than a dozen introductions, with the earliest occurring during 1886 in Sarasota County. Six sources, some Australian and some extra-Australian, have contributed to Florida's populations. The tree became naturalized in southern Florida during the 1920s, but a paucity of records makes it difficult to determine when naturalized populations began to proliferate via an exponential growth phase. Human distribution of seeds and seedlings is a confounding factor in attempting to decipher rates of M. quinquenervia invasion.