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Biology
Special Issues
Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests
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Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Ecology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 4192

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dun Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Plant Protection, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
Interests: forest insects; biological control; biodiversity; entomopathogens; resource insects
Dr. Liangjian Qu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
Interests: biological control of forest pests; insect pathology; pathogenic microorganisms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest and grassland are the most important nature component , playing an important role in balancing the whole ecosystem. Forest and grassland pests cause huge losses can affect the whole ecosystem; however, the situation might worsen with the application of chemical pesticides to control them. Therefore, controlling forest and grassland pests by means of ecological regulation is expected to maintain a healthy ecosystem.

The scope of this Special Issue includes the ecological regulation of forest and grassland pests via sustainable IPM, chemical ecology, biological control, biotechnique, biodiversity and pest control, forest management, AI-based control, and other modern approaches. The topics of pure chemical pesticides or chemically based IPM have been excluded.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Dun Wang
Dr. Liangjian Qu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • forest and grassland pests
  • ecological regulation
  • sustainable IPM
  • biological control
  • forest management

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 3340 KiB  
Article
Broussonetia papyrifera Extract Can Be Used as a Raw Material Source for a Sterility Agent for Microtus fortis
by Shuangye Wang, Tian Lan, Yunlin Zhao, Wanfu Liu, Tian Huang, Meiwen Zhang, Zhiyuan Hu and Zhenggang Xu
Biology 2025, 14(1), 56; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14010056 - 12 Jan 2025
Viewed by 583
Abstract
Plant sterilants are used to control rodent populations due to their minimal environmental risk and other ethical considerations. However, their practical utilization is unsatisfactory due to high costs and processing difficulties. Broussonetia papyrifera is a plant material that has shown the potential to [...] Read more.
Plant sterilants are used to control rodent populations due to their minimal environmental risk and other ethical considerations. However, their practical utilization is unsatisfactory due to high costs and processing difficulties. Broussonetia papyrifera is a plant material that has shown the potential to inhibit the reproduction of Microtus fortis, a species that causes serious damage to crops in the Dongting Lake region in China. M. fortis was treated with different doses of B. papyrifera leaf methanol extracts. The results show that the growth of sex organs was inhibited, and the males’ testosterone levels and sperm quality were reduced. Though there were some positive effects on females, the reproductive parameters of coupled voles were inferior; the most treated couple exhibited an increased reproductive time, fetal counts, and reduced weight. It was also found that M. fortis responded negatively to the extract after a single treatment or long-term repeated treatment compared to a short-term repeated treatment. B. papyrifera leaves showed a higher application potential as a sterilant for male rodents. These findings enrich the study of plant sterilants and provide insights into the utilization of B. papyrifera and the management of rodents. Owing to the effectiveness and accessibility of the leaves, the derived sterilant may be more economical for controlling rodent pests. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests)
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10 pages, 1021 KiB  
Article
Fitness of Mythimna separata (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Cultivated Wheat and a Weed, Wild Oat (Avena fatua), and Its Implications for Pest Management
by Qinjian Pan, Junyu Shen, Lvming Su, Zexiang Nie, Ikkei Shikano, Tong-Xian Liu and Lin Chen
Biology 2024, 13(12), 1037; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13121037 - 11 Dec 2024
Viewed by 923
Abstract
Mythimna separata (Walker), a significant migratory pest in many Asian countries, can cause severe damage to wheat crops. Understanding whether wild oat can serve as an alternate host is important for informing predictive models of M. separata infestation levels in wheat fields and [...] Read more.
Mythimna separata (Walker), a significant migratory pest in many Asian countries, can cause severe damage to wheat crops. Understanding whether wild oat can serve as an alternate host is important for informing predictive models of M. separata infestation levels in wheat fields and can improve pest and weed management strategies. We first conducted both choice and no-choice experiments and found that M. separata readily laid eggs on both wheat and wild oat, with no significant oviposition preference. However, newly hatched larvae exhibited a strong preference for wheat, with 53.34% more larvae feeding on wheat compared to wild oat. Development time from egg to adult emergence was significantly shorter in M. separata fed on wheat than on wild oat, although the durations of the larval and pupal stages varied depending on the host plant. Despite these differences in development time, host plants did not significantly affect larval survival, pupal weight, fecundity, and adult longevity. The mean number of eggs laid by females that fed on wheat and wild oat were 1202.12 and 1270.54 eggs/female, and larval survival rates were 81% and 84%, respectively. Our findings suggest that wild oat can serve as a suitable host for M. separata and may act as a refuge when wheat fields are treated with insecticides. The high larval preference for wheat over wild oat indicates that M. separata on wild oat may easily disperse to wheat, complicating pest control and highlighting the need to include wild oat in pest management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests)
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11 pages, 1266 KiB  
Article
Development of Simple Sequence Repeat of Monochamus alternatus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Based on Restriction Site-Associated DNA Sequencing
by Jintao Lu, Senzhe Zhang, Jiaxin Liu, Yuhua Zhang, Lijuan Hu, Zhende Yang and Ping Hu
Biology 2024, 13(11), 880; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13110880 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 889
Abstract
Monochamus alternatus, a pest posing a serious threat to coniferous species, such as Pinus massoniana, has had devastating effects on pine forests due to its association with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The creation of unique simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers for M. [...] Read more.
Monochamus alternatus, a pest posing a serious threat to coniferous species, such as Pinus massoniana, has had devastating effects on pine forests due to its association with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The creation of unique simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers for M. alternatus is crucial, as there has been little study of the species’ phylogeography. The aim of this study was to identify and create polymorphic SSR primers by sequencing samples of M. alternatus obtained from three different sampling points using the restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (Red-seq) approach. Subsequently, supplementary samples were integrated, and genetic typing was performed utilizing the identified polymorphic primers. Through comprehensive analysis, a total of 95,612 SSR loci were identified. Among these, mononucleotide repeats (51.43%), dinucleotide repeats (28.79%), and trinucleotide repeats (16.74%) predominated among the SSR motif types. Ultimately, 18 pairs of SSR primers were screened out, demonstrating stable amplification and high polymorphism. Genetic typing revealed that the mean number of alleles (Na) for these primer pairs ranged from 3 to 8, observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.133 to 0.733, polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.294 and 0.783, and Shannon’s index (I) ranged from 0.590 to 1.802. This study effectively produced 16 pairs of SSR primers that can be applied to different populations of M. alternatus. As a result, important tools for furthering studies on the phylogeography of pine wood nematodes, creating genetic maps, gene mapping, and carrying out in-depth investigations into gene function have been made available. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests)
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14 pages, 9059 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Metabolic Responses of Resistant and Susceptible Poplar Clones Induced by Hyphantria cunea Feeding
by Zheshu Wang, Liangjian Qu, Zhibin Fan, Luxuan Hou, Jianjun Hu and Lijuan Wang
Biology 2024, 13(9), 723; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13090723 - 14 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1166
Abstract
Poplar trees are significant for both economic and ecological purposes, and the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Drury) poses a major threat to their plantation in China. The preliminary resistance assessment in the previous research indicated that there were differences in resistance to [...] Read more.
Poplar trees are significant for both economic and ecological purposes, and the fall webworm (Hyphantria cunea Drury) poses a major threat to their plantation in China. The preliminary resistance assessment in the previous research indicated that there were differences in resistance to the insect among these varieties, with ‘2KEN8’ being more resistant and ‘Nankang’ being more susceptible. The present study analyzed the dynamic changes in the defensive enzymes and metabolic profiles of ‘2KEN8’ and ‘Nankang’ at 24 hours post-infestation (hpi), 48 hpi, and 96 hpi. The results demonstrated that at the same time points, compared to susceptible ‘Nankang’, the leaf consumption by H. cunea in ‘2KEN8’ was smaller, and the larval weight gain was slower, exhibiting clear resistance to the insect. Biochemical analysis revealed that the increased activity of the defensive enzymes in ‘2KEN8’ triggered by the feeding of H. cunea was significantly higher than that of ‘Nankang’. Metabolomics analysis indicated that ‘2KEN8’ initiated an earlier and more intense reprogramming of the metabolic profile post-infestation. In the early stages of infestation, the differential metabolites induced in ‘2KEN8’ primarily included phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and unsaturated fatty acids, which are related to the biosynthesis pathways of phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, unsaturated fatty acids, and jasmonates. The present study is helpful for identifying the metabolic biomarkers for inductive resistance to H. cunea and lays a foundation for the further elucidation of the chemical resistance mechanism of poplar trees against this insect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecological Regulation of Forest and Grassland Pests)
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