Description
Cultural keystone species are an ever present consideration when discussing ecological management strategies. Planning these strategies becomes a difficult dance of environmental management, public relations, and media perception. In this thesis I discuss the cultural invasiveness of eucalyptus trees in San Diego with the intention of providing a better framework for measuring and implementing management strategies with similar species.The cultural invasiveness of a species is an often overlooked trait in non-native and alien species. Much of the research done today focuses on the ecological impacts of an alien species or the cost to business. Research does not often look at the cultural impacts of a species and if it is culturally enriching, culturally impoverishing, or culturally replacing in nature. I take a broad approach to analyzing the cultural invasivity of eucalyptus within the San Diego County region of California. It employs an ecological analysis of the tree alongside a historical context review, news media analysis of the past fifty years, survey of the residents of San Diego, and interviews with businesses and organizations that use or interface with eucalyptus in some capacity. With these various approaches, I find that eucalyptus is a significant icon of the area and that there are mass calls for management plans surrounding them due to the hazards they pose.
