Regulation of forest defoliating insects through small mammal predation: reconsidering the mechanisms

Population densities of forest defoliating insects may be regulated by small mammal predation on the pupae. When outbreaks do occur, they often coincide with warm, dry weather and at barren forest sites. A proposed reason for this is that weather and habitat affect small mammal population density (numerical response) and hence pupal predation. We propose an alternative explanation: weather and habitat affect small mammal feeding behaviour (functional response) and hence the outbreak risks of forest pest insects. We report results from laboratory and field-enclosure experiments estimating rates of pupal predation by bank voles (Myodes glareolus) on an outbreak insect, the European pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer), at different temperatures (15 and 20 °C), in different microhabitats (sheltered and non-sheltered), and with or without access to alternative food (sunflower seeds). We found that the probability of a single pupa being eaten at 20 °C was lower than at 15 °C (0.49 and 0.72, respectively). Pupal predation was higher in the sheltered microhabitat than in the open one, and the behaviour of the voles differed between microhabitats. More pupae were eaten in situ in the sheltered microhabitat whereas in the open area more pupae were removed and eaten elsewhere. Access to alternative food did not affect pupal predation. The results suggest that predation rates on pine sawfly pupae by voles are influenced by temperature- and habitat-induced variation in the physiology and behaviour of the predator, and not necessarily solely through effects on predator densities as previously proposed.     

A critique of silvicultural approaches to managing defoliating insects in North America

1 A variety of silvicultural techniques have been suggested for managing forest defoliating insects. The objectives focus on minimizing defoliation or minimizing damage from defoliation. 2 The theoretical foundations of many approaches have been built upon observation and correlation, and very little reliable empirical evidence exists to support the objectives of silvicultural manipulations. Existing experimental data have yielded inconsistent results. 3 We review the conceptual framework and underlying assumptions of the major silvicultural approaches recommended or in use in North America. 4 Well‐designed, long‐term studies are needed to clarify the effect of silviculture on defoliators and their effect on forests.     

The impact of defoliating insects on the growth of eucalypt saplings

The effect of spraying insecticide on eucalypt saplings was experimentally tested in a New England woodland. Replicate branches of five species were sprayed fortnightly with Thiodan over a period of 4 months. Their leaf damage, leaf flushes, stem growth, and bud production were compared with those of control branches. Loss of leaf area to insect grazers was extremely variable, ranging from very low levels (e.g. 1.8% for sprayed new leaves of Angophora floribunda) to nearly total defoliation (97.1% for unsprayed new leaves of Eucalyptus viminalis). The sprayed branches consistently suffered less herbivory and grew more than the controls.     

1950—2008年江西省森林火灾的碳损失估算

1950—2008年间江西省年均发生森林火灾762次、年均过火面积1.578×104hm2.本文利用江西省森林火灾统计数据,结合气象、森林分布和历次森林清查数据,分析了该省林火的特征,估算历年的林火碳释放量和碳转移量.结果表明:1950—2008年江西省森林火灾导致的森林生物量总损失约61.155 Tg,活生物量碳库损失约30.993 Tg C,占全省植被碳库的15.92%.20世纪70年代以前林火生物量碳损失率约占1950—2008年生物量总碳损失的74.3%;90年代以后,年均林火生物量碳损失小于0.097 Tg C.森林火灾释放的CO2、CH4和CO气体分别为5.408 Tg、0.047 Tg和0.486 Tg,有22.436 Tg C活生物量碳进入土壤碳库.2008年初雨雪冰冻灾害引发的高频率次生林火灾害导致森林活生物量碳损失(0.463 Tg C)是前5年平均值(0.181 Tg C)的2.56倍.     

Height, trade, and inequality in the Latin American periphery, 1950-2000.

Which variables determine whether a country chooses an open or protected market? It has been argued that economic downturn leads to a higher propensity for protectionism. We find for seven Latin American countries in the second half of the 20th century that declining GDP motivated the opening wave, especially during the 1980s. Moreover, inequality could play a role, either in favor of "opening", as Stolper-Samuelson models would predict, or in favor of closing, as recent empirical studies found that open periods were associated with higher inequality. Using anthropometric indicators, we find that inequality in general tended to motivate "closing", whereas inequality did not stimulate opening.     

The structure and behavior of defoliating insect/forest systems

Using four detailed and complex simulation models we derive a framework for predicting behavior of any defoliating insect/forest system. The framework uses simple and easily gathered biological information on four sets of state variables, each with a characteristic temporal scale, to predict presence, absence or form of key ecological processes acting on or between the variables. The combination of these key processes enables prediction of system equilibrium structure and this structure can be used to derive the temporal behavior of the system. Four qualitatively different classes of system behavior arise from the equilibrium structures. The framework is tested against twelve other systems and field invalidation experiments are outlined. Forest defoliator research and management implications are discussed.     

沙地云杉幼树对食叶害虫危害的补偿与超补偿效应

从沙地云杉食叶害虫优化管理出发 ,在植物与害虫相互作用的生态系统中 ,通过人工模拟摘叶实验研究 ,结果表明 ,沙地云杉幼树在一定失叶率的条件下存在补偿和超补偿效应 ,进而以沙地云杉宏观生长指标组建了一组不同生长指标的补偿与超补偿效应模型 ,同时寻求了相应的补偿点与超补偿点 .     

Trends in abundance of tropical forest insects

Summary The stability of a large variety of insect populations was studied using 14 years of light-trap data collected in a relatively undisturbed tropical forest in Panama. Special emphasis was placed on trends in abundance over time. A large between-species variation was found in stability, ranging from nearly constant to violently fluctuating. Over a 14-year period 22% of the species with more than 26 individuals caught showed an average trend of more than 10% of their mean abundance per year, and 4% a trend of more than 20% per year. Even among the 78 species represented by more than 1000 individuals, 7 species, 9%, showed a trend of more than 10% of mean abundance per year. These results appear to be incompatible with the generally held tenet that natural populations in undisturbed environments fluctuate within rather narrow abundance limits, and may indicate that at least a certain proportion of natural populations are not kept within such limits by regulatory processes. Actual fluctuating patterns vary a great deal between species, suggesting the absence of some dominant environmental process affecting several species at the same time. The total number of species and individuals, and the associated value of the -diversity index remained at the same level over the 14 years.     

Altitudinal patterns in host suitability for forest insects

Conspecific trees growing at high and low-elevations encounter different growing conditions and may vary in their suitability as hosts for herbivorous insects. Mountain tree populations may be more resistant to herbivory if low temperatures constrain growth more than they constrain photosynthesis, resulting in increased secondary metabolism (temperature hypothesis). Alternatively, mountain trees may be fertilized by atmospheric nitrogen deposition and become more palatable to insects (atmospheric deposition hypothesis). We evaluated these two hypotheses by comparing high- and low-elevation trees with insect bioassays and analyses of foliar nitrogen and condensed tannin. Contrary to the temperature hypothesis, high-elevation foliage had higher leaf nitrogen (six of six tree species) and allowed higher growth rates of Lymantria dispar larvae (five of six tree species). The nitrogen deposition hypothesis was broadly supported by measurements from two mountains showing that high-elevation trees tended to have higher leaf nitrogen, lower leaf tannins, and support higher insect growth performance than conspecific trees from lower elevations. The deposition hypothesis was further supported by fertilization studies showing that simulated atmospheric nitrogen deposition changed the foliar chemistry of valley trees to resemble that of high-elevation trees. Predictions that the altitudinal gradient in foliar chemistry and host suitability should be steepest on mountains receiving more deposition were largely not supported, but interpretations are complicated by lack of replication among mountains. In the northeastern United States, increased host suitability of high-elevation trees seems sufficient to influence the population dynamics and community composition of herbivores. Atmospheric nitrogen deposition offers a promising hypothesis to explain and predict some important spatial patterns in herbivory. Received: 21 September 1997 / Accepted: 12 June 1998     

利用引诱剂监测林木主要蛀干害虫

于2004~2006年间对浙江省乐清市林木蛀干害虫种类进行调查,结果显示该辖区共有47种蛀干害虫,隶属于8科41属。重点对松墨天牛Monochamus alternatus Hope、削尾材小蠹Xyleborus mutilatus Blandford等的成虫活动期林间种群数量动态进行监测。结果表明,松墨天牛林间活动期为4月下旬至11月中旬,6月上旬为高峰期,其诱获的成虫数占监测总数的41.1%,初步显示该虫在浙南地区松林内的种群数量变化规律。同时,还初步了解到削尾材小蠹成虫的活动规律。     

Host-specificity of folivorous insects in a moist tropical forest

1. To assess the degree of herbivore host-specificity in the moist tropical forest on Barro Colourado Island, Panama, I conducted an extensive series of feeding trials on the common insect herbivores from 10 tree species.
2. The herbivores were offered leaves from both congeneric and confamilial plant species to their known host species, as well as leaves from the most abundant tree species in the forest.
3. The amount of damage caused by these herbivores to young, expanding leaves was also measured on nine of the tree species.
4. Of 46 herbivores species (seven Coleoptera, one Orthoptera, 38 Lepidoptera), 26% were specialized to a single plant species, 22% were limited to feeding on a single genus and 37% were able to feed on several genera within a single family. The remaining 15% were generalists, able to feed from several different plant families.
5. The causes of leaf damage varied extensively across the tree species. On average, specialist herbivores caused 58% of the damage to young leaves, generalists herbivores 8% and fungal pathogens 34%. For four of the tree species, pathogens were the most important cause of leaf damage.
6. In this forest, most chewing herbivores appear to have fairly narrow diets, and these specialists are responsible for most of the insect herbivory.     

Small,Round-Structured Viruses (SRSVs) Associated with Acute Gastroenteritis Outbreaks in Gifu,Japan

Two outbreaks of non-bacterial gastroenteritis occurred in Gifu prefecture in January 1989 and in January 1991. Both outbreaks were closely related to the consumption of raw oysters, and showed similar clinical features. Small, round-structured virus particles were found in patient stools in both outbreaks by electron microscopy. The role of these particles as the causative agents of the outbreaks were strongly suggested by immune electron microscopy and/or western-blotting immunoassay. When compared with SRSV-9 (Tokyo/SRSV/86–510) reported previously (Hayashi et al, J. Clin. Microbiol., 27: 1728–1733, 1989), it was found that these viral particles were antigenically similar to SRSV-9, and had a major structural protein of 63 kilodaltons (kDa). Further, the prevalence of this agent in Gifu area was examined by western blot antibody assay using 67 serum samples collected from the inhabitants in 1991. The results indicated the circulation of the same or antigenically similar agent in this area.