The Use of Eucalyptus Trees in Arboriculture for Wood Production in a Mediterranean Environment: Some Case Studies

Fast growing species plantation can represent a quite interesting opportunity to recover marginal agricultural lands. Furthermore, it allows a high wood biomass production in a relatively short time. The cultivation of indigenous or exotic forest species for wood production implies the adoption of an agronomic-type cultivation system, with very sophisticated algorithms enhancing the production potentiality of the species. The present paper reports the results of a plantation with Eucalyptus spp., realised at the beginning of the eighties in a private property in Cilento (province of Salerno). Results show that in the Mediterranean area Eucalyptus spp. can produce high amounts of wood biomass in a very short time, provided that a proper cultivation module is applied, according to the particular characteristics of each species and the environmental site conditions.