A Green Desert of Trees: 

Environmental Consequences of Monoculture Plantations

By Daniel Santander Urrutia

Forests around the world are under major threats. Large-scale conversion of forest lands to agriculture and tree plantations is continuously reducing global biodiversity. Genetic manipulation of plants has enabled these exotic species to spread aggressively, outcompeting native species through adaptations and by altering soil structure, an explosive combination amid increasing wildfires and climate change.

Introduction

When, in the 1970s, NASA consultant on extraterrestrial life research James Lovelock, together with evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis, introduced the Gaia hypothesis, it ignited a profound shift in environmental and ecological thinking. Challenging the traditional notion that life merely adapts to the planet’s physical conditions, Lovelock and Margulis argued that life actively shapes and maintains the environmental balance necessary for its own persistence.

As economic systems evolved to maximize profitability, technological advances in resource extraction and production also intensified. Exotic tree species adapted to harsh climatic conditions and began to compete with native vegetation, often displacing it and transforming local ecosystems. Evidence suggests that genetically engineered tree varieties, when combined with industrial crop systems, generate serious risks to ecological stability.

This article summarizes key scientific findings on the environmental consequences of monoculture tree plantations, focusing on species as Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus, which are wild spreading through the Southern Cone (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and southern Brazil)

The experience from these countries offers an illustrative example of the global challenges and problems associated with monoculture forestry, with nuances and differences due to  socioecological and political-economic contexts.

The replacement of native forests, prolonged droughts, biodiversity loss, and heightened flammability are recurrently being observed where plantation forestry follows similar models but employs different species: pines, eucalypts, teaks, acacias, and oil palms, adapted to local climates and soils.

This piece is the second in a series of three articles addressing the impacts of tree monoculture plantations on (1) populations, (2) ecosystems, and (3) the climate. Although these dimensions are deeply interconnected, this structure aims to help readers understand the nature of these impacts and their cross-domain interactions, ultimately, with the goal of safeguarding the world’s forests.