Investigating beetle communities in and around entry points can improve surveillance at national and international scale

Beetles are commonly moved among continents with international trade. Baited traps set up in and around entry points are commonly used to increase chances of early-detection of incoming species and complement visual inspections. A still underestimated benefit of this surveillance approach is the high number and diversity of collected bycatch species. In this study, we exploited a multiyear surveillance program carried out with baited traps at five Spanish ports and their surrounding natural areas to investigate i) the importance of identifying bycatch to more promptly detect nonnative species belonging to non-target groups; ii) patterns of native and nonnative species richness and abundance inside the port areas vs. surrounding natural areas; iii) the occurrence of spillover events between natural areas surrounding ports and the port areas, and iv) whether the native species most commonly introduced into other countries are more abundant in port areas than in surrounding natural areas. A total of 23,538 individuals from 206 species representing 33 families were collected. The number and taxonomic diversity of the 26 bycatch nonnative beetle species testified that the identification of these unintentionally trapped species can provide additional information on ongoing invasions. Patterns of spillover and native species richness and abundance in port areas vs. surrounding natural areas highlighted a differential ability of different beetle families to colonize port areas. Finally, native species most commonly introduced into other countries were more abundant in port areas than in their surroundings, while the opposite trend occurred for native species that have not been introduced elsewhere. Our study highlighted that the use of traps baited with generic attractants can aid in early-detection of nonnative beetle species, and that the identification of native species can provide useful information on the risk of introduction in other countries.The study was funded by the Servei d’Ordenació i Gestió Forestal (Conselleria d’Agricultura, Desenvolupament Rural, Emergència Climàtica i Transició Ecològica) of Generalitat Valenciana. Davide Rassati was partially supported by the CRUI-CARE Agreement. 2019 STARS Grants programme (project: MOPI–Microorganisms as hidden players in insect invasions)

Tabla de supervivencia de Pinus Halepensis afectado por incendios forestales

En la Comunidad Valenciana se producen numerosos incendios forestales especialmente en los meses de verano, afectando principalmente a pino carrasco (Pinus halepensis Mill), que es la especie más abundante. Se ha realizado el seguimiento de pinos parcialmente afectados por el fuego en dos incendios que se produjeron en agosto de 2007 y julio de 2009. En estos árboles se midieron: altura del árbol, altura del fuste, diámetro normal, diámetro basal, espesor de corteza, altura del fuste y altura del árbol afectadas por el fuego, porcentaje de copa quemada y porcentaje del diámetro normal quemado y se siguió la evolución de estos parámetros hasta el otoño siguiente al incendio, anotando los árboles muertos y los que sobrevivieron. Se ha realizado un análisis factorial por el método de las componentes principales para las variables analizadas con el objetivo de reducir la dimensión. Los resultados del análisis indican que es posible predecir la mortalidad post-incendio en P. halepensis basándose en cuatro variables: porcentaje de la altura del árbol fectada por el fuego, proporción de copa quemada, porcentaje del perímetro normal afectado y presencia o no de escolítidos, siendo el porcentaje de la altura del árbol afectada por el fuego y la proporción de copa quemada los parámetros más importantes para estimar la probabilidad de supervivencia de los árboles parcialmente quemados en un incendio. Por último se han identificado las especies de escolítidos encontradas en las zonas incendiadas y se aportan datos sobre el vuelo de los más abundantes.Bordon Perez, P.; Pérez-Laorga Arias, EM.; Estruch Fuster, VD.; Rodrigo Santamalia, ME. (2012). Tabla de supervivencia de Pinus Halepensis afectado por incendios forestales. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias Forestales. 36:161-165. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/34123S1611653

Distribución de Brenneria spp. en la Comunidad Valenciana y especies forestales a las que afecta

El género Brenneria agrupa especies bacterianas que producen chancros con lesiones necróticas y exudados en plantas leñosas. En España, en los últimos años, se han identificado varias Brenneria sp. como responsables de chancros bacterianos en quercíneas (B. quercina), nogales (B. nigrifluens y B. rubrifaciens) y chopos (Brenneria sp.). En la Comunidad Valenciana también se han detectado focos de B. quercina en encinas de algunos parajes de importancia medioambiental, pero todavía se dispone de escasa información acerca de la incidencia de esta bacteriosis en nuestra Comunidad. Sin embargo, no existen referencias de la presencia de Brenneria spp. en nogal o chopo en la Comunidad Valenciana, aunque no se puede descartar su presencia o introducción a través de material vegetal. El objetivo del presente trabajo ha sido conocer la incidencia de dichas bacteriosis en nuestra Comunidad. Para ello, se han continuado las prospecciones en masas de quercíneas de distintos orígenes geográficos de la Comunidad Valenciana iniciadas en un estudio anterior, y se han centrado en aquellas zonas o especies del género Quercus en las que la bacteria no había sido detectada previamente. Además, se han iniciado prospecciones en otras especies forestales de interés para nuestra Comunidad, como Juglans regia y Populus spp

The Database of European Forest Insect and Disease Disturbances: DEFID2

[EN] Insect and disease outbreaks in forests are biotic disturbances that can profoundly alter ecosystem dynamics. In many parts of the world, these disturbance regimes are intensifying as the climate changes and shifts the distribution of species and biomes. As a result, key forest ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, regulation of water flows, wood production, protection of soils, and the conservation of bio-diversity, could be increasingly compromised. Despite the relevance of these detri-mental effects, there are currently no spatially detailed databases that record insect and disease disturbances on forests at the pan-European scale. Here, we present the new Database of European Forest Insect and Disease Disturbances (DEFID2). It comprises over 650,000 harmonized georeferenced records, mapped as polygons or points, of insects and disease disturbances that occurred between 1963 and 2021 in European forests. The records currently span eight different countries and were acquired through diverse methods (e.g., ground surveys, remote sensing techniques). The records in DEFID2 are described by a set of qualitative attributes, including se-verity and patterns of damage symptoms, agents, host tree species, climate-driven trigger factors, silvicultural practices, and eventual sanitary interventions. They are further complemented with a satellite- based quantitative characterization of the affected forest areas based on Landsat Normalized Burn Ratio time series, and dam-age metrics derived from them using the LandTrendr spectral–temporal segmentation algorithm (including onset, duration, magnitude, and rate of the disturbance), and pos-sible interactions with windthrow and wildfire events. The DEFID2 database is a novel resource for many large-scale applications dealing with biotic disturbances. It offers a unique contribution to design networks of experiments, improve our understanding of ecological processes underlying biotic forest disturbances, monitor their dynamics, and enhance their representation in land-climate models. Further data sharing is en-couraged to extend and improve the DEFID2 database continuously. The database is freely available at https://jeodpp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ftp/jrc- opend ata/FOREST/DISTURBANCES/DEFID2/SIEC Joint Research Centre; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: 101059498; European Research Council, Grant/Award Number: 101039567; Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization of Romania; LifeWatch— POC project, Grant/Award Number: 327/390003/06-11-202

Monitoring of Matsucoccus feytaudi (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae) and its natural enemies in Spain using sticky tapes and pheromone traps

[EN] The maritime pine bast scale, Matsucoccus feytaudi Ducasse (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae), occurs in the western part of the Mediterranean basin and is a sap sucking insect that feeds only on maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton). It causes damage in SE France and Italy, where it was accidentally introduced. In Spain information is scarce and, moreover, almost nothing is known about the predators of this species. This study was designed to determine the seasonal trends in abundance of M. feytaudi and its major predators, which might help to improve the biological control of this pest in other areas. Natural P. pinaster stands in the Valencian Community (Spain) were surveyed in 2004. In addition, the seasonal trends in abundance of M. feytaudi and its natural enemies were monitored in three stands over a period of three years (2002, 2005 and 2006). The monitoring was carried by wrapping sticky tapes around tree trunks and using delta traps baited with sexual pheromone. The maritime pine bast scale was detected in all the stands surveyed. At almost all the sites surveyed, three species of predators were captured: Elatophilus nigricornis Zetterstedt (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), Hemerobius stigma Stephens (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) and Malachiomimus pectinatus (Kiesenwetter) (Coleoptera: Malachiidae). The presence of M. pectinatus is noteworthy as this is the first record of this species as a possible predator of M. feytaudi. The results show that M. feytaudi, although differing in its phenology depending on the location, is univoltine in the study area. The prepupae, pupae and adults of M. feytaudi appeared between December and March in colder areas and between October and February in warmer areas. E. nigricornis nymphs are important predators of M. feytaudi, and were abundant when the scale insect (crawlers, prepupae, pupae, male and female adults) was present. The flight period of E. nigricornis and the hemerobiid H. stigma ranged from May to October. However, these flight patterns did not correlate with the presence of the different stages of the bast scale (crawlers, prepupae, pupae, male and female adults) on the surface of tree trunks. The presence of M. pectinatus in large numbers in some stands suggests it might be an important natural regulator, which helps to keep M. feytaudi populations at low densities in the areas of Spain studied. This malachiid shows a strong kairomonal attraction to the sexual pheromone of M. feytaudi and its flight activity is significantly correlated with the presence of crawlers of bast scaleThis research was supported by the Universitat Politècnica de València Vicerrectorado de Innovación y Desarrollo (20060237).Rodrigo Santamalia, ME.; Català Oltra, M.; Pérez Laorga, E.; Baena, M. (2013). Monitoring of Matsucoccus feytaudi (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae) and its natural enemies in Spain using sticky tapes and pheromone traps. European Journal of Entomology. 110(2):301-310. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/81499S301310110

Eficacia del difusor de feromona de procesionaria del pino Pherocon PPM®

Los resultados de este trabajo forman parte del trabajo de fin de carrera presentado en la Universidad Politecnica de Valencia por Maria Duran Lázaro y dirigido por la Dra. Eugenia Rodrigo Santamalia y Eduardo Perez Laorga con el titulo "Influencia del tipo de trampa en la captura de mariposas de la procesionaria del pino (Thaumetopoea pityocampa Schiff.) en la sierra Calderona"[ES] Se ha ensayado la eficacia de un difusor de la feromona de la procesionaria del pino fabricado por la empresa Trécé lncorporated denominado Pherocon® PPM, distribuido por la empresa Kenogard. La eficacia se ha verificado dentro de una experiencia más amplia en la que también se ensayaban varios modelos de trampas como alternativa a la Trampa G. Se han colocado un total de 60 trampas, la mitad de ellas cebadas con Pherocon® y la otra mitad con Pityolure®. El número de capturas obtenido mediante el empleo de los dos difusores ha sido similar, no arrojando el análisis de la varianza diferencias significativas. Se concluye que el difusor Pherocon® consigue los mismos niveles de capturas que el difusor Pityolure®Durán, M.; Rodrigo Santamalia, ME.; Pérez Laorga, E.; Mas I Gisbert, H. (2012). Eficacia del difusor de feromona de procesionaria del pino Pherocon PPM®. Cuadernos de la Sociedad Española de Ciencias Forestales. (36):175-178. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/73384S1751783