SCREENING MULTIPURPOSE LEGUME TREES IN CENTRAL CHILE

The article presents final results of a 6-year screening trial carried out in central Chile comparing the adaptability and growth rates of 3 8 woody legume trees or shrubs mainly originating in the Chaco savanna region of southern South America, and two non-legumes of western Euro pean origin, Quercus suber (cork oak)and European ash (Fraxinus excels ior). Introductory plots, containing 28 individuals of each species, w ere established in the subhumid mediterranean climate, inner drylands (secano interior), of southcentral Chile (35 degrees 58'S 72 degrees 1 7'W, mean annual precipitation 695 mm, concentrated in the seven colde st months of the year). After 6 years, only three species showed excel lent growth and survival (>86%) rates, and none of these was from the Chaco region: Acacia decurrens (Australia), Fraxinus excelsior (Europe ), and Chamaecytisus proliferus subsp. palmensis (Tagasaste) from La P alma, Canary Islands. These latter two species were the fastest growin g, yielding large quantities of edible and N-rich forage (4406+/-1650 and 223.0+/-137.4 kg ha(-1) year(-1), respectively). F. excelsior also showed high potential as a source of a high quality wood for turning or cabinetry. Unexpectedly, the principal cause of mortality among the 38 species tested was frost rather than drought or acid soils. Many s pecies in the legume genera Anadenanthera, Caesalpinia, Enterolobium, Faidherbia, Gleditsia and Prosopis performed poorly. Results are discu ssed in the context of a long-term ecological rehabilitation project b ased on agroforestry development and innovation for the Chilean secano interior. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.