Invasive Forest Insects Introduced Forest Trees And Altered Ecosystems

Demand for timber and fibre continues to grow and is being met by increased reliance on plantation forestry. Many of the plantations that are being grown around the globe are non-native species that have characteristics of rapid growth and good commercial qualities. In some cases, the high rates of production are a result of the absence of native herbivore and diseases. This limited pest status is threatened as pest species move around the globe. At the same time there is concern about threats of these non-native plantation species on native communities and the impact of changing climates on forest productivity. This volume explores many of these issues for the first time.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The Forest Service has identified invasive species as one of four significant threats to our Nation¿s forest and rangeland ecosystems. Forest Service R&D has a crucial role in providing insight and options to protect trees, forests, and ecosystems from the threat of invasive insects. Currently, Forest Service R&D provides info. crucial to the development of tools for studying, controlling, and mitigating several invasive insects in the U.S., such as the Asian longhorned beetle, emerald ash borer, banded elm bark beetle, Mediterranean pine engraver, Sirex woodwasp, and hemlock woolly adelgid. Clients and scientists have worked together to identify short- and long-term needs to enhance existing research. Examples of this vision are provided here.

This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.

As the worldwide human population explodes and trade becomes increasingly globalized, the transboundary movement of plant species from their place of origin to foreign regions is escalating and expected to experience continued growth in the coming decades. Invasive non-native species pose one of the greatest challenges for natural resource managers who are charged with the maintenance of biological diversity and the sustainable production of forest resources. With international contributors presenting an informed and integrated approach to the control of havoc-wrecking species, Invasive Plants and Forest Ecosystems provides the most updated information on invading plants, their impacts on forest ecosystems, and control strategies. This text addresses such important issues as the socioeconomic and policy aspects of plant invasion and offers complete coverage of their ecological impacts and the varied levels of threats in diverse situations.

This text considers forest insects occurring in forest ecosystems, specialized forestry settings, and urban forests, with an approach and coverage that make it suitable for use in both undergraduate and graduate courses in forest entomology and forest protection. Early chapters introduce entomology, middle chapters provide the first comprehensive treatment of the principles of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) of forest insects, and later chapters discuss the pest insects according to their feeding group.

Exotic species are introduced as a result of human travel and trade. That is, directly or not, they are intricately linked to the choices we make as consumers. A fraction of introduced species become invasive and this represents an increasing threat to natural ecosystems, the economy and to society. Protecting and alleviating natural and managed ecosystems from the pressures imposed by exotic invasive species is only possible through knowledge about why certain invaders are indeed detrimental and need to be controlled. Given the sheer dimension in terms of number of native species affected and area invaded, public participation through involvement in monitoring and control activities is crucial to counteract the problem. To this effect, it is important to know exactly what to look for and what tools are available to monitor and control exotic invaders. This is the first comprehensive guidebook for terrestrial exotic invasive species in Ontario, Canada. It focuses on the biology, ecology and management of species that invade hardwood forests, which are major natural resource in Canada. The forestry sector accounts for billions of dollars annually and many thousands of jobs. The book is divided in two main sections. The first provides an introduction to the importance of hardwood forests in Ontario as well as an overview about management practices. The second section focuses on invasive species accounts for fourteen plants, five insects and six pathogens. These species were selected based on science-based criteria stemming from their economic, environmental and societal effects. The book is aimed at a broad audience, including academics, students, natural resource managers, woodlot owners and the general public.

Insect and disease issues are often specific to the Mediterranean forest systems rather than shared with the temperate forests. In addition to the specific native insects and diseases, the forests are subject to the invasion of exotic species. The forests are also at risk from high degrees of human activity, including changing patterns of forest fires, land management activities, intensive plantation forestry using introduced timber species from other Mediterranean climate zones, and atmospheric deposition. Combined with elements of global climate change that may disproportionately affect Mediterranean climate systems, this creates a number of significant management issues that are unique to the Mediterranean forests. It is our goal that the information contained in this volume will contribute to understanding the unique aspects of Mediterranean forest systems and to protecting these critical resources.

Evidence suggests that efforts to eradicate the Asian long-horned beetle appear likely to succeed, while the emerald ash borer and P. ramorum are likely to continue to infest and damage forest ecosystems indefinitely despite efforts to control them. The Asian long-horned beetle is a wood-boring insect from Asia that has caused separate infestations in parts of New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. Over 8,000 trees infested with the beetle have been removed, and over 600,000 trees have been chemically treated to protect against the beetle. As a result of these and other actions, federal and state agencies have been able to reduce the size of the infested areas. The emerald ash borer is also a wood-boring insect from Asia that has infested large areas in Michigan; Ohio; Indiana; and Ontario, Canada, killing an estimated 15 million trees. The pathogen P. ramorum is the causal agent of the disease known as Sudden Oak Death. It is of unknown origin and has infested large areas in central and northern coastal California and a small area in southern Oregon. This book examines these key environmental issues. This book is a fully-indexed excerpted version of a GAO report.