This project investigates early life history plant functional traits related to climate, soil water and nutrient availability, disturbance, and biotic interactions that shape the dispersal, establishment and colonisation of open non-forest areas by the endemic Araucaria angustifolia and invasive species of Pinus that have been spreading from plantations established in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is of interest to established if the open areas created by deforestation for use for grazing reach an alternative stable state, or if they are able to recover forest cover via natural or assisted regeneration. The results are expected to be of use for conservation management.
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