ABSTRACT
Between 1980 and 2012, the area of Eucalypt plantations worldwide expanded more than threefold, to over 20 M ha (Eldridge et al. 1993; GIT Forestry Consulting 2013). Most of the expansion has comprised the establishment of plantations grown on short clearfall rotations for the pulp and paper industries. Plantation trees are typically grown to a mean diameter at breast height of 15-20 cm prior to harvest, with rotation age ranging from as low as four years in southern India and Thailand, to 10-12 years for E. globulus and E. nitens in Australia, Chile, Portugal and Spain.
