Beetle-Pathogen Interactions in Conifer Forests

London

1993

252 S.

zahlr. Lit. Ang.

Monographie

0-12-628970-0

93115

The purpose of this book is to synthesize the enormous volume of work on the importance of interactions among bark beetles, pathogens and trees to productivity of conifer forests in North America. Bark beetles and pathogens are credited with causing substantial losses of timber. They also affect values of other forest resources. Tree mortality caused by these organisms in dense conifer forests often fuels devastating fires, such as those in Yellowstone National Park in the western US during the summer of 1988. Direct and indirect interactions among bark beetles and pathogens require an integrated approach to forest management. The traditional approach of managing individual pest species as damage is recognized may accomplish reduction of the target pest but inadvertently promote other pest species. This synthesis comes at a time of renewed interest in bark beetle-pathogen interactions in conifer forests. The prospect of global warming and drying, in addition to growing problems of air pollution and industrial forest management, has raised concern that bark beetle and pathogen activity will increase in forests made vulnerable by these stresses. Prevention of future pest problems will require changes in our perspective of forest ecosystems and in our approach to managing forest pests. Despite the importance of bark beetles and pathogens to forest productivity and forest management, no single book has addressed the various aspects of interaction among trees, insects and pathogens. Various books have addressed bark beetle or pathogen ecology and management, insect-fungal interactions, forest patterns and processes, or forest management. We bleieve that this synthesis will improve appreciation for the complex interactions among bark beetles, pathogens and trees as these influence productivity of conifer forests. We also note that no texts currently available for the integrated forest insect and disease management courses now offered and required at most forestry schools in North America integrate information on insect-pathogen interactions. Although a textbook for such a course would have a broader scope than that of this book, this volume synthesizing interactions among bark beetles, pathogens and conifers provides the basic integration for a major set of interacting components in North American forests and addresses interactions of these components with other insects and pathogens. We have endeavoured to produce an integrated synthesis rather than a collection of projects summaries. Our objective is to focus on patterns and processes central to bark beetle and pathogen epidemiology in conifer forests rather than on particular interactions that have been widely reported through technical journals and other outlets. This should increase the value of this book as a textbook, as well as a reference, for forest entomologists, pathologists, ecolog...