Regeneration patterns of Polylepis subtusalbida growing with the exotic trees Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus at Parque Nacional Tunari, Bolivia

Abstract

The establishment of exotic trees such as Pinus radiata (radiata pine, Pinaceae) and Eucalyptus globulus (eucalyptus, Myrtaceae) in fragments of native vegetation at the Parque Nacional Tunari (PNT, Cochabamba-Bolivia), can affect the regeneration of the native species that live there. Polylepis subtusalbida's (kewiña, Rosaceae) regeneration was surveyed, evaluating the density of seedlings, their size structure, and growth forms, as well as variables of growth and survival in fragments of pure forests (P. subtusalbida fragments without exotic trees) and mixed fragments (P. subtusalbida fragments with exotic trees). Sixty-four permanent study plots were established in mixed fragments of P. subtusalbida-P. radiata, P. subtusalbida-E. globulus and fragments with only P. subtusalbida, in three locations within the Parque Nacional Tunari. Mixed fragments with both native and exotic trees and native pure fragments did not present differences in seedling density. Differences in density were