scholarly journals Protection Strategy against Spruce Budworm

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1137
Author(s):  
David A. MacLean

Spruce budworm is one of the most significant forest insects worldwide, in terms of outbreak extent, severity, and economic impacts. As a defoliator, spruce budworm larvae are susceptible to insecticide protection, and improvements in efficacy and reductions in non-target environmental effects have made such protection attractive. In this Special Issue, 12 papers describe the advances in spruce budworm protection, most notably an ‘early intervention strategy’ approach that after six years of trials in New Brunswick, Canada, shows considerable success to date in reducing budworm outbreak occurrence and severity.

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 448 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. MacLean ◽  
Peter Amirault ◽  
Luke Amos-Binks ◽  
Drew Carleton ◽  
Chris Hennigar ◽  
...  

Spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.; SBW) outbreaks are one of the dominant natural disturbances in North America, having killed balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and spruce (Picea sp.) trees over tens of millions of hectares. Responses to past SBW outbreaks have included the aerial application of insecticides to limit defoliation and keep trees alive, salvage harvesting of dead and dying trees, or doing nothing and accepting the resulting timber losses. We tested a new ‘early intervention strategy’ (EIS) focused on suppressing rising SBW populations before major defoliation occurs, from 2014 to 2018 in New Brunswick, Canada. The EIS approach included: (1) intensive monitoring of overwintering SBW to detect ‘hot spots’ of low but rising populations; (2) targeted insecticide treatment to prevent spread; and (3) proactive public communications and engagement on project activities and results. This is the first attempt of area-wide (all areas within the jurisdiction of the province of New Brunswick) management of a native forest insect population. The project was conducted by a consortium of government, forest industry, researchers, and other partners. We developed a treatment priority and blocking model to optimize planning and efficacy of EIS SBW insecticide treatment programs. Following 5 years of over 420,000 ha of EIS treatments of low but increasing SBW populations, second instar larvae (L2) SBW levels across northern New Brunswick were found to be considerably lower than populations in adjacent Québec. Treatments increased from 4500 ha in 2014, to 56,600 ha in 2016, and to 199,000 ha in 2018. SBW populations in blocks treated with Bacillus thuringiensis or tebufenozide insecticide were consistently reduced, and generally did not require treatment in the subsequent year. Areas requiring treatment increased up to 2018, but SBW L2 populations showed over 90% reductions in that year. Although this may be a temporary annual decline in SBW population increases, it is counter to continued increases in Québec. Following 5 years of tests, the EIS appears to be effective in reducing the SBW outbreak.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Ye Liu ◽  
Van A. Lantz ◽  
David A. MacLean ◽  
Chris Hennigar

We investigated the potential economic impacts of future spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) (SBW) outbreaks on 2.8 million ha of Crown land in New Brunswick, Canada and compared an early intervention strategy (EIS) with foliage protection approaches. We coupled the Spruce Budworm Decision Support System (SBW DSS) with a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model to assess the impacts of EIS and foliage protection on 0%, 5%, 10%, and 20% of susceptible Crown (publicly owned) forest, under moderate and severe SBW outbreak scenarios. Cumulative available harvest supply from 2017 to 2067 was projected to be reduced by 29 to 43 million m3, depending upon SBW outbreak severity, and a successful EIS approach would prevent this loss. These harvest reductions were projected to reduce total economic output by $25 billion (CAD) to $35 billion. Scenarios using biological insecticide foliage protection over 20% of susceptible Crown forest area were projected to reduce losses to 6–17 million m3 and $0.5–4.1 billion. Depending upon SBW outbreak severity, EIS was projected to have benefit/cost ratios of 3.8 to 6.4 and net present values of $186 million to $353 million, both higher than foliage protection strategies. Sensitivity analysis scenarios of ‘what if’ EIS partially works (80% or 90%) showed that these produced superior timber harvest savings than the best foliage protection scenario under severe SBW outbreak conditions and generally superior results under moderate outbreak scenarios. Overall, results support the continued use of EIS as the preferred strategy on economic grounds to protect against SBW outbreaks on Crown land in New Brunswick.


2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Yew Chang ◽  
Van A. Lantz ◽  
Chris R. Hennigar ◽  
David A. MacLean

We investigated the potential economic impacts of future spruce budworm (SBW) ( Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens)) outbreaks on 2.8 million hectares of Crown forest land in New Brunswick by coupling an advanced Spruce Budworm Decision Support System (SBW DSS) model with a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. A total of 16 alternative scenarios were evaluated, including two SBW outbreak severities (moderate versus severe), four SBW control program levels (protecting 0%, 10%, 20%, and 40% of susceptible Crown land forest area), and two pest management strategies (“without” versus “with” replanning harvest scheduling and salvage). The “without” replanning harvest scheduling and salvage strategy findings indicated that, under uncontrolled moderate and severe SBW outbreaks, total output in the New Brunswick economy over the 2012–2041 period would decline in present-value terms by CDN$3.3 billion and $4.7 billion, respectively. SBW control via aerial spraying was shown to reduce the negative impacts on output by up to 66% when protecting 40% of susceptible area. Combining SBW control with replanning harvest scheduling and salvage strategy under moderate and severe outbreaks would reduce the negative impacts on output by a further 1%–18% depending on the level of control implemented. These findings can help forest managers assess the direct and indirect economic effects of forest pest disturbances on regional economies and can also be used together with other sustainable forest management indicators to help broaden the scope of SBW and other forest pest management decision-making.


Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Johns ◽  
Joseph J. Bowden ◽  
Drew R. Carleton ◽  
Barry J. Cooke ◽  
Sara Edwards ◽  
...  

The spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana, Clem., is the most significant defoliating pest of boreal balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and spruce (Picea sp.) in North America. Historically, spruce budworm outbreaks have been managed via a reactive, foliage protection approach focused on keeping trees alive rather than stopping the outbreak. However, recent theoretical and technical advances have renewed interest in proactive population control to reduce outbreak spread and magnitude, i.e., the Early Intervention Strategy (EIS). In essence, EIS is an area-wide management program premised on detecting and controlling rising spruce budworm populations (hotspots) along the leading edge of an outbreak. In this article, we lay out the conceptual framework for EIS, including all of the core components needed for such a program to be viable. We outline the competing hypotheses of spruce budworm population dynamics and discuss their implications for how we manage outbreaks. We also discuss the practical needs for such a program to be successful (e.g., hotspot monitoring, population control, and cost–benefit analyses), as well as the importance of proactive communications with stakeholders.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-95
Author(s):  
Ulrike Flader ◽  
Vera Ecarius-Kelly ◽  
Clemence SCALBERT-YÜCEL ◽  
Michael M. Gunter ◽  
Tozun Bahcheli ◽  
...  

Cengiz Gunes and Welat Zeydanlıoğlu (eds.), The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation and Reconciliation, London: Routledge, 2014, 288 pp., (ISBN: 978-0-415-83015-7).Almas Heshmati and Nabaz T. Khayyat, Socio-Economic Impacts of Landmines in Southern Kurdistan, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013, 341 pp., (ISBN: 978-1-4438-4198-6).Estelle Amy de la Bretèque, Paroles Mélodisées: Récits épiques et lamentations chez les Yézidis d’Arménie (Melodised speech. Heroic songs and laments among the Yezidis of Armenia), Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2013, 230pp., (ISBN: 978-2-8124-0787-1).Diane E. King, Kurdistan on the Global Stage: Kinship, Land, and Community in Iraq, New Brunswick and London: Rutgers University Press, 2014. 286 pp., (ISBN: 9780813563534).Michael M. Gunter and Mohammed M.A. Ahmed (eds.), The Kurdish Spring: Geopolitical Changes and the Kurds, Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers, 2013, 344 pp., (ISBN: 978-1568592725).Derya Bayır, Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing House, 2013, 314 pp., (ISBN: 9781409420071).


Author(s):  
Marc Rhainds ◽  
Ian DeMerchant ◽  
Pierre Therrien

Abstract Spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana Clem. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), is the most severe defoliator of Pinaceae in Nearctic boreal forests. Three tools widely used to guide large-scale management decisions (year-to-year defoliation maps; density of overwintering second instars [L2]; number of males at pheromone traps) were integrated to derive pheromone-based thresholds corresponding to specific intergenerational transitions in larval densities (L2i → L2i+1), taking into account the novel finding that threshold estimates decline with distance to defoliated forest stands (DIST). Estimates of thresholds were highly variable between years, both numerically and in terms of interactive effects of L2i and DIST, which limit their heuristic value. In the context of early intervention strategy (L2i+1 > 6.5 individuals per branch), however, thresholds fluctuated within relatively narrow intervals across wide ranges of L2i and DIST, and values of 40–200 males per trap may thus be used as general guideline.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1620-1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiong Su ◽  
Ted D. Needham ◽  
David A. MacLean

Changing stand composition by increasing hardwood content has been suggested as a long-term method for reducing susceptibility and vulnerability of balsam fir (Abiesbalsamea (L.) Mill.) to spruce budworm (Choristoneurafumiferana (Clem.)). Twenty-five mixed balsam fir–hardwood stands were selected in northern New Brunswick, with five stands in each 20% hardwood class (0–20, 21–40%, etc.). Defoliation each year from 1989 to 1993 was significantly (p < 0.0001) related to hardwood content, with r2 ranging from 0.57 to 0.81. As hardwood content increased, defoliation of balsam fir decreased. From 1989 to 1992, the years of moderate to severe defoliation, balsam fir stands with <40% hardwoods sustained 58–71% defoliation, on average, versus 12–15% defoliation in stands with >80% hardwood. A generalized model combining hardwood content and the estimated defoliation in pure softwood stands in a given year explained 77% of the variation in defoliation over stands and years. This study indicated that mixed balsam fir–hardwood stand management, with hardwood content >40%, could substantially reduce losses during spruce budworm outbreaks. Further research is warranted to elucidate the mechanism involved, but our working hypothesis is that greater hardwood content increased the diversity or populations of natural enemies such as birds and parasitoids.


2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. ii-iv
Author(s):  
Kelly Allen ◽  
Chris Boyle

School belonging is generally regarded as a student's sense of affiliation or connection to his or her school. Anyone who has personally navigated the sometimes torturous terrain of secondary school is able to have some level of direct understanding of the importance that belonging, fitting in, and identifying with a school holds for most people. Educators and practitioners often work with young people who feel that they do not belong to the school community, in which they attend. An absence of belonging can manifest itself in mental health concerns, school attrition, and risk taking behaviours. Opportunities for early intervention through fostering school belonging are born from a greater understanding and awareness of what school belonging is and how it is contextualised and fostered. This special issue aims to place a focus on school belonging and highlight it as a significant social issue of our time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Emilio C. Viano

AbstractTerrorism, while not new in the history of humanity, has become a major issue and challenge for contemporary society worldwide. Recently it has become embodied and symbolized by the “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) in its many permutations in the Middle East, the focus of massive military intervention on the part of major world powers and of study, analysis, strategy and planning. One aspect that has distinguished ISIS from previous terrorist movements is a major migration of women, especially but not limited to Western Europe, joining the jihad proclaimed by the religious leaders of ISIS. This introduction to the special issue on Female Migration to ISIS surveys and identifies the known possible roots of the phenomenon and related issues, summarizes major known points relative to it, and outlines the future agenda of work, not only academic but also practical and strategic, to be followed. Balanced recommendations on how to build a promising intervention strategy not only based on military force are put forth for consideration and discussion. While based on research, this article should be considered more of an editorial, generally introducing the field, summarizing existing work, especially the content of this special issue, and pointing out work needed in the future.


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