Impacts

• Forms thick stands, shades out native plants and completely takes over moist and wet forests
• Forms an “umbrella” over the watershed, potentially reducing the amount of rainwater that seeps into the watershed.
• Shallow root systems promote erosion
• Can grow from seed to mature seeding tree in four years. A mature tree can produce about 3 million seeds several times per year. Seeds can remain viable for 10 or more years before sprouting
• Sand-grained sized seeds easily spread by birds and other animals when they eat the fruit. Seeds also spread by people when contaminated dirt or mud sticks to shoes, clothing, equipment, or vehicles
• Introduced to Tahiti in 1937 and has since overwhelmed two-thirds of Tahiti’s forests, and is directly responsible for threatening 25% of their native forest species with extinction