Page 6 - Badalamenti_alii_2013

510 E. BADALAMENTI, D. CUSIMANO, T. LA MANTIA & S. PASTA

formed abundant fruiting just 4 years after birth; its regular monitoring
since January 2011 revealed a very fast growth in terms of biomass and
height. The emergence and the establishment of the seedlings of M.
azedarach is strongly biased by the local co-occurrence of Pennisetum
setaceum (Forssk.) Chiov. (Fig. 1), whose competitive ability has long been
recognized (PASTA et al., 2010).
At the moment it is difficult to predict with sufficient reliability the rate
of the naturalization process of M. azedarach in Sicily. Nonetheless, the
increasing number of regeneration nuclei observed during the last decades in
the whole regional territory may be the prelude of its rapid spread, like it has
already happened to many other invasive species (RICHARDSON et al., 2000).
Three main factors will probably rule the near future of M. azedarach in Sici-

Fig. 1 — Young individuals of Melia azedarach gradually spreading in a suburban area of Carini
(Palermo province) together with Pennisetum setaceum.