Australian Pines
ABOUT AUSTRALIAN PINES ON SANIBEL
By the City of Sanibel Natural Resources Department
There are lots of good reasons to remove the non-native Australian pine on Sanibel as they are, together with the Melaleuca and Brazilian pepper, among the three worst invasive exotic trees damaging wildlife habitat throughout South Florida. In fact, due to the damage they cause to native vegetative communities and wildlife populations, it is prohibited anywhere in the State to sell, transport or plant them. A total of 373,000 acres of native plant communities in Florida have been replaced by this one exotic tree to date. During one environmental restoration project on Sanibel, before and after studies were done to determine the effect of Australian pines on the diversity of native plants. At a five-acre stand of pines along Casa Ybel Road, there were only 14 species of native plants recorded from a thorough plant survey under dense pine canopy before the restoration project. Within only three years of pine removal, 86 species of native groundcovers, shrubs and trees were growing on the same five-acre tract. It is this diversity of native plant species and the varied fruit, seeds, and insect forage they provide that makes the natural plant communities on Sanibel such excellent wildlife habitat.
Pines are shallow rooted and brittle, with great potential to cause property damage, personal injury, destruction of utility infrastructure and blockage of roads, especially in tropical storms or hurricanes. Along the shoreline, they block access to eroding sections of beach and destroy native dune vegetation, interfering with both shorebird and sea turtle nesting. Unlike native trees, Australian pine seedlings can fix nitrogen at their roots giving them a built-in source of nutrients that give them an unfair advantage over our native plants in terms of speed of growth and ability to grow in bare sand. They can grow in disturbed soils and along the beach in such dense monocultures with thick mats of acidic needles that they entirely replace the important native coastal dune and rare coastal scrub habitats that would normally dominate.
Post Hurricane Charley Pine Review
The property damage assessment team with the City of Sanibel’s Building Department was among the first to systematically assess the effects of Charley on the Island following the passage of the storm. It was obvious to all team members that the most significant structural damage to non-Gulf-front homes and the single biggest cause of blockage of roadways, loss of electric power and disruption of water and sewer service on Sanibel was the result of toppled and broken Australian pines. While some other exotic trees also faired poorly and caused significant damage, especially exotic fig trees, by far the major cause of the millions of dollars in non-Gulf-front structural damage from Charley was Australian pines.
City Policy on Existing Australian Pines
On February 6, 2006, Sanibel City Council passed Ordinance No. 06-021, "confirming the rights of private property owners to retain Australian pines that currently exist on their private property..." If, however, the City determines that a pine, or any other tree, is a danger to health, safety or welfare, or to City infrastructure, such as a lift station, “topping” or removal of such trees shall be required.
It accordance with State law, the City continues to prohibit the sale and planting of Australian pines.
You may view the entire policy (Secs. 30-121--30-127) by clicking on the "CITY CODES" tab at the top of the page.