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Biological Control and Management of Tree Diseases and Insect Pests...
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Biological Control and Management of Tree Diseases and Insect Pests in Forests

A Special Issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907) belonging to the section "Forest Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2025) | Viewed by 3244

Editors

Dr. Han Xue

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Interests: biological control; plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria; systematic classification of bacteria
Dr. Ning Jiang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Interests: fungi; Ascomycota; plant disease; taxonomy; biological control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Forests focuses on advancing sustainable strategies to combat forest health threats through biological control and integrated management. We invite contributions addressing the ecology, mechanisms, and application of biocontrol agents such as predatory insects, parasitoids, microbial inoculants (e.g., Beauveria bassiana, Bacillus thuringiensis), and plant resistance inducers. Key themes include novel biocontrol agents, genomic insights into host–pathogen interactions, and the role of forest biodiversity in pest suppression. Submissions may also explore synergies between biological control and traditional practices (e.g., silviculture, phytosanitation) or emerging technologies (e.g., remote sensing, AI-driven monitoring). We welcome original research, meta-analyses, reviews, and case studies emphasizing scalability, ecological safety, and socioeconomic feasibility. Interdisciplinary studies bridging molecular biology, ecology, and forest management are particularly encouraged. This Special Issue aims to provide actionable knowledge for mitigating invasive species, climate-linked outbreaks, and ecosystem degradation while promoting resilient forest ecosystems worldwide.

Dr. Han Xue
Dr. Ning Jiang
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests 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 2600 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

  • plant pathology
  • parasitoids
  • natural enemies
  • biological control
  • mechanisms
  • induced systemic resistance
  • ecology

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

54 pages, 4447 KB  
Article
Structure–Diversity Relationships in Parasitoids of a Central European Temperate Forest
by Claudia Corina Jordan-Fragstein, Roman Linke and Michael Gunther Müller
Forests 2026, 17(1), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/f17010106 - 13 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 967
Abstract
Parasitoids are key natural antagonists of forest insect pests and are gaining importance in integrated forest protection under increasing climate-related disturbances. This study aimed to quantify the influence of vegetation diversity and canopy structure on the abundance and diversity of the overall insect [...] Read more.
Parasitoids are key natural antagonists of forest insect pests and are gaining importance in integrated forest protection under increasing climate-related disturbances. This study aimed to quantify the influence of vegetation diversity and canopy structure on the abundance and diversity of the overall insect community responses to vegetation structure and to provide an ecological context. Second, detailed analyses focused on three focal parasitoid families (Braconidae, Ichneumonidae, Tachinidae), which are of particular relevance for integrated forest protection due to their central role in integrated forest protection and in pesticide-free regulation approaches for risk mitigation in forest ecosystems. Malaise traps were deployed at eight randomly selected broadleaf and coniferous sites, and insect samples from six sampling dates in summer 2024 were analyzed. The sampling period coincided with the full development of woody and vascular plants, representing the phase of highest expected activity of phytophagous insects and associated parasitoids. Vegetation surveys (Braun–Blanquet), canopy closure, and canopy cover were recorded for each site. Across all samples, five arthropod classes, 13 insect orders, and 31 hymenopteran families were identified, with pronounced site-specific differences in community composition and abundance. Our results suggest that broadleaf-dominated sites, characterized by higher plant species richness and greater structural heterogeneity, support a more diverse assemblage of phytophagous insects, thereby increasing host availability and niche diversity for parasitoids. Parasitoid communities generally showed higher diversity at broadleaf sites. Spearman correlations and multiple linear regressions revealed a strong negative relationship between canopy cover and total insect abundance ρ (Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (Spearman ρ = −0.72, p = 0.042; p = 0.012, R2 = 0.70), R2 (coefficient of determination), whereas parasitoid diversity (Shannon index) and the relative proportion of Ichneumonidae were positively associated with canopy cover (ρ = 0.85, p = 0.008). In addition, canopy cover had a significant positive effect on overall insect diversity (Shannon index; p = 0.015, R2 = 0.63). Time-series analyses revealed a significant seasonal decline in parasitoid abundance (p < 0.001) and parasitoid diversity (p = 0.018). Time-series analyses revealed seasonal dynamics characterized by fluctuations in parasitoid abundance and diversity and a general decrease over the course of the sampling period. The findings demonstrate that structurally diverse mixed forests, particularly those with a high proportion of broadleaf trees mixed forests with heterogeneous canopy layers can enhance the diversity of specialized natural enemies, while dense canopy cover reduces overall insect abundance. These insights provide an ecological basis for silvicultural strategies that strengthen natural regulation processes within integrated forest protection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control and Management of Tree Diseases and Insect Pests in Forests)
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12 pages, 2778 KB  
Article
Morphological Anatomy, Developmental Characteristics of the Reproductive System in Arhopalus rusticus (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) and Their Impacts on the Transmission Potential of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Aphelenchida: Parasitaphelenchidae)
by Mengxiao Wang, Guangjuan Ren, Jing Wang, Kai Zhong, Zongtao Chang, Dongqin Li, Anbao Ma, Yongyun Qu, Lei Shi, Beining Duan, Haiwei Wu and Xinwei Zhang
Forests 2025, 16(12), 1754; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16121754 - 21 Nov 2025
Viewed by 961
Abstract
In recent years, opinions have diverged on whether the oviposition pathway of Arhopalus rusticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) can transmit Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner & Buhrer, 1934) (Aphelenchidae: Nematoda). Based on biological observations and biochemical index calculations, this study assessed the development degree of [...] Read more.
In recent years, opinions have diverged on whether the oviposition pathway of Arhopalus rusticus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) can transmit Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner & Buhrer, 1934) (Aphelenchidae: Nematoda). Based on biological observations and biochemical index calculations, this study assessed the development degree of the internal reproductive system (morphological soluble total sugar and protein content) and external genital morphology of A. rusticus before and after gnawing pine needles. The study results indicate that A. rusticus developed and matured immediately after eclosion in natural conditions, and it could mate and spawn directly. However, gnawing on pine needles has no significant impact on the development of the reproductive system of both male and female A. rusticus, indicating that this behavior is not a prerequisite for reproductive maturity. Furthermore, through dissection and behavioral observations, it has been determined that the degree of ossification in the ovipositor of A. rusticus is lower than that in the ovipositor of Monochamus alternatus (Hope, 1843) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), and its egg-laying method involves only depositing eggs on the surface of a bark, thus confirming that the reproductive behavior of A. rusticus does not facilitate the transmission of B. xylophilus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control and Management of Tree Diseases and Insect Pests in Forests)
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17 pages, 3426 KB  
Article
Specific Function and Assembly of Crucial Microbes for Dendroctonus armandi Tsai et Li
by Caixia Liu, Lingyu Liang, Huimin Wang, Zheng Wang and Quan Lu
Forests 2025, 16(10), 1584; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16101584 - 15 Oct 2025
Viewed by 729
Abstract
Dendroctonus armandi is a native bark beetle that infests healthy Pinus armandii Franch. in western China. The complex symbiotic relationships with diverse microbes are critical to hosts for survival and outbreak dynamics. Understanding the potential functions and assembly metabolisms of these symbiotic microbes [...] Read more.
Dendroctonus armandi is a native bark beetle that infests healthy Pinus armandii Franch. in western China. The complex symbiotic relationships with diverse microbes are critical to hosts for survival and outbreak dynamics. Understanding the potential functions and assembly metabolisms of these symbiotic microbes to host colonization are therefore crucial. Metagenomic analysis revealed that gut microbial communities differed from cuticular ones significantly. The cuticle exhibited greater fungal diversity, while the gut supported a significantly higher bacterial diversity. Our findings indicated that gut unclassified Burkholderiales, Escherichia, Bacteroides and Prevotella may play a crucial role in degrading terpenes, phenols and polysaccharides rather than cuticular microbes. Stochastic processes appeared to be served as the primary drivers shaping the core microbial community structures. Cuticular dominant and functional microbial community assemblies except for Escherichia may be primarily driven by stochasticity to adapt the unstable habitats. The direct comparison of gut and cuticular microbiomes may provide valuable insights into the specific functions of symbiotic microbes, and offer critical molecular data for broader understanding of symbiotic relationship between bark beetles and microbes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biological Control and Management of Tree Diseases and Insect Pests in Forests)
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