SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF THE INVASION OF PINUS RADIATA D.DON IN REMMANTS OF MAULINE FOREST

Due to its intense use in forest plantations, Pinus radiata (D.Don) is a fairly common species in Central Chile. Since its introduction, the area occupied by these plantations has increased considerably, which has resulted in the fragmentation of the native forest in many areas. The proximity of the plantations to remnants of native forest favors the colonization and establishment of pine individuals. The methodological approach of this study was to use photogrammetry techniques to analyze the establishment of pines in a remnant of Mauline Forest over a period of 12 years to evaluate their dynamics and model their behavior. To generate the invasion model, we used a point pattern process analysis, that has been frequently used to describe invasion processes. The results show that, in the study area, the invasion process of P. radiata has been constant over time, with an increase of 2.500 to 6.000 individuals in the period analyzed. The spatial analysis of this distribution, using the Ripley’s K technique, revealed a tendency pf clustering at distances between 10 and 200 meters between the invading individuals.