Reprint

Protection Strategy against Spruce Budworm

Edited by
January 2020
220 pages
  • ISBN978-3-03928-096-4 (Paperback)
  • ISBN978-3-03928-097-1 (PDF)

This is a Reprint of the Special Issue Protection Strategy against Spruce Budworm that was published in

Biology & Life Sciences
Environmental & Earth Sciences
Summary

Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)) outbreaks are a dominant natural disturbance in the forests of Canada and northeastern USA. Widespread, severe defoliation by this native insect results in large-scale mortality and growth reductions of spruce (Picea sp.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) forests, and largely determines future age–class structure and productivity. The last major spruce budworm outbreak defoliated over 58 million hectares in the 1970s–1980s, and caused 32–43 million m3/year of timber volume losses from 1978 to 1987, in Canada. Management to deal with spruce budworm outbreaks has emphasized forest protection, spraying registered insecticides to prevent defoliation and keep trees alive. Other tactics can include salvage harvesting, altering harvest schedules to remove the most susceptible stands, or reducing future susceptibility by planting or thinning. Chemical insecticides are no longer used, and protection strategies use biological insecticides Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) or tebufenozide, a specific insect growth regulator. Over the last five years, a $30 million research project has tested another possible management tactic, termed an ‘early intervention strategy’, aimed at area-wide management of spruce budworm populations. This includes intensive monitoring to detect ‘hot spots’ of rising budworm populations before defoliation occurs, targeted insecticide treatment to prevent spread, and detailed research into target and non-target insect effects. The objective of this Special Issue is to compile the most recent research on protection strategies against spruce budworm. A series of papers will describe results and prospects for the use of an early intervention strategy in spruce budworm and other insect management.

Format
  • Paperback
License and Copyright
© 2020 by the authors; CC BY license
Keywords
forest pests; defoliation; spruce budworm; multi-spectral remote sensing; Acadian region; Maine; Quebec; Choristoneura fumiferana; Abies balsamea; hardwood content; defoliation prediction; Choristoneura fumiferana; annual defoliation; spatial autocorrelation; spatial-temporal patterns; mixed effect models; intertree variance; insect population management; spruce budworm; early intervention; defoliation; economic losses; decision support system; optimized treatment design; insect population management; spruce budworm; early intervention; defoliation; economic losses; decision support system; computable general equilibrium model; Pinaceae; endophytic fungi; plant tolerance; Phialocephala scopiformis; Picea glauca; spruce budworm; phenology; insect susceptibility; spruce budworm; forest protection; early intervention strategy; egg recruitment; apparent fecundity; growth rate; spruce budworm; Choristoneura fumiferana; forest protection; early intervention strategy; survival; apparent fecundity; immigration; growth rate; treatment threshold; insecticides; spruce budworm; moth; tortricidae; Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens); forest protection; early intervention strategy; pheromone mating disruption; migration; dispersal; spruce budworm; Choristoneura fumiferana; moth; Lepidoptera; forest protection; early intervention strategy; migration; simulation; aerobiology; moths; migration; forest protection; spruce budworm; Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.); early intervention strategy; modelling; circadian rhythm; foliage protection; population control; monitoring; area-wide management; science communication; economic and ecological cost: benefit analyses; early intervention strategy; foliage protection; defoliation; monitoring; insecticide application