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Although native to Australia, Eucalyptus species are found throughout Europe. At present, they are located mainly in the Iberian Peninsula and Eucalyptus globulus is the most commonly planted species. Climate forecasts anticipate an expansion of Eucalyptus to other regions of Europe. The fast growth of E. globulus, together with its resprouting ability and wood properties, has promoted the use of this species in the Iberian Peninsula. The total volume of E. globulus harvested there was close to 14 million m3 in 2019. Eucalyptus species represent the main source of raw material for the pulp and paper industries and provide an important source of income to non-industrial owners. Being exotic fast-growing trees, their expansion has also been associated with negative environmental impacts. The species therefore poses a series of challenges, while also generating opportunities. The objectives of this review paper are: (1) to summarize the importance of Eucalyptus plantations in Europe; (2) to analyse the opportunities and challenges of this genus in present and future plantations in Europe; (3) to assess to what extent forest management, at both stand and landscape levels, can reduce negative impacts; (4) to make policy and management recommendations that may support the use of this genus in other European regions. These aims are accomplished based on a thorough literature review, particularly focused on research developed in the Iberian Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of the diameter distribution is important for forest management since the knowledge of tree density and growing stock by diameter classes is essential to define management plans and to support operational decisions. The modeling of diameter distributions from airborne laser scanning (ALS) data has been performed through the two-parameter Weibull probability density function (PDF), but the more flexible PDF Johnson's SB has never been tested for this purpose until now. This study evaluated the performance of the Johnson's SB to predict the diameter distributions based on ALS data from two of the most common forest plantations in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula (Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Pinus radiata D. Don). The Weibull PDF was taken as a benchmark for the diameter distributions prediction and both PDFs were fitted with ALS data. The results show that the SB presented a comparable performance to the Weibull for both forest types. The SB presented a slightly better performance for the E. globulus, while the Weibull PDF had a small advantage when applied to the P. radiata data. The Johnson's SB PDF is more flexible but also more sensitive to possible errors arising from the higher number of stand variables needed for the estimation of the PDF parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]