Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.5
2.9
Journals
Forests
Special Issues
Control and Management of Invasive Species in Forest Ecosystems
share announcement

Control and Management of Invasive Species in Forest Ecosystems

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Ecology and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2020) | Viewed by 9445

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Jaroslav Holuša

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, 16501 Praha, Czech Republic
Interests: conservation biology; forest ecology; invasive species; IPM; sawflies; pathogens of bark beetles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Invasive species, such as weeds, animals, and micro-organisms, are a major issue that threatens ecosystems, habitats, and forests. Expansion of either the true range or the outbreak range has been observed in several model species/groups of major insect guilds in boreal and temperate biomes. Effects of climate change on forest insects have been demonstrated for a number of species and guilds, although generalizations of the available results are difficult to make because of species-specific responses to climate change.

Invasive species are a global problem. Many of the species cause problems, including economic losses, so we should focus on helping to manage them. The monitoring of invasive species is necessary. Controlling invasive species can be problematic, as the chemical and mechanical management options are often ineffective in the long-term, impractical, prohibitively costly, or even illegal. Biological control is a sustainable alternative way to control invasive species.

Therefore, this Special Issue will concentrate on the monitoring, control, and management of invasive species in forests to help authorities make optimal decisions.

Prof. Dr. Jaroslav Holuša
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind 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

  • invasive species
  • non-native species
  • monitoring
  • species traits
  • competition
  • biological control

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 6786 KiB  
Article
Predicting the Potential Global Geographical Distribution of Two Icerya Species under Climate Change
by Yang Liu and Juan Shi
Forests 2020, 11(6), 684; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11060684 - 17 Jun 2020
Cited by 30 | Viewed by 3173
Abstract
Climate change is predicted to alter the geographic distribution of a wide variety of taxa, including insects. Icerya aegyptiaca (Douglas) and I. purchasi Maskell are two polyphagous and invasive pests in the genus Icerya Signoret (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae) and cause serious damage to many [...] Read more.
Climate change is predicted to alter the geographic distribution of a wide variety of taxa, including insects. Icerya aegyptiaca (Douglas) and I. purchasi Maskell are two polyphagous and invasive pests in the genus Icerya Signoret (Hemiptera: Monophlebidae) and cause serious damage to many landscape and economic trees. However, the global habitats suitable for these two Icerya species are unclear. The purpose of this study is to determine the potentially suitable habitats of these two species, then to provide scientific management strategies. Using MaxEnt software, the potential risk maps of I. aegyptiaca and I. purchasi were created based on their occurrence data under different climatic conditions and topology factors. The results suggested that under current climate conditions, the potentially habitable area of I. aegyptiaca would be much larger than the current distribution and there would be small changes for I. purchasi. In the future climate change scenarios, the suitable habitats of these two insect species will display an increasing trend. Africa, South America and Asia would be more suitable for I. aegyptiaca. South America, Asia and Europe would be more suitable for I. purchasi. Moreover, most of the highly habitat suitability areas of I. aegyptiaca will become concentrated in Southern Asia. The results also suggested that “min temperature of coldest month” was the most important environmental factor affecting the prediction models of these two insects. This research provides a theoretical reference framework for developing policies to manage and control these two invasive pests of the genus Icerya. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Management of Invasive Species in Forest Ecosystems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

21 pages, 4765 KiB  
Article
Effect of Invasive Rhododendron ponticum L. on Natural Regeneration and Structure of Fagus orientalis Lipsky Forests in the Black Sea Region
by Zdeněk Vacek, Stanislav Vacek, Derya Eşen, Oktay Yildiz, Jan Král and Josef Gallo
Forests 2020, 11(5), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11050603 - 25 May 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3154
Abstract
Biological invasions threaten global biodiversity and forest ecosystems; therefore, it is necessary to use appropriate strategies for combating the spread of invasive species. Natural regeneration of eastern beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) is considerably limited by an aggressive invasive shrub, pontic rhododendron ( [...] Read more.
Biological invasions threaten global biodiversity and forest ecosystems; therefore, it is necessary to use appropriate strategies for combating the spread of invasive species. Natural regeneration of eastern beech (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) is considerably limited by an aggressive invasive shrub, pontic rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum L.), in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Therefore, the future character of the region’s forests is uncertain. The aim of this research was to evaluate the structure of beech forests with different management regimes of rhododedron and to determine the interaction among tree layer, rhododendron cover, and natural regeneration in Düzce Province using the FieldMap technology. The following variants of forests were compared: without intervention (control) and three and six years after rhododendron clearance. The results showed that tree density ranged between 175–381 trees ha−1 and stand volume between 331–589 m3 ha−1. The horizontal structure of the tree layer was mostly random, and the spatial pattern of natural regeneration was aggregated. Recruit density and height in the beech stands were significantly differentiated due to the influence of presence or absence of invasive rhododendron. Rhododendron cover ranged between 81%–97%, and woody stems amounted to 72,178–86,884 ha−1 in unmanaged forests. Canopy in the overstory did not have a significant effect on the density of regeneration and rhododendron cover. Tree layer had a significant negative influence on natural regeneration within a 4 m radius on the plots without rhododendron. However, on the plots with dense rhododendron cover, tree layer had a positive influence on regeneration within a 1.5 m radius. Natural regeneration density was significantly higher when rhododendron was cleared than the plots without intervention. On the plots without woody clearance, there was an insufficient regeneration (113–619 recruits ha−1); however, they had higher mean height compared to the sites without rhododendron. After three and six years of rhododendron clearance, the numbers of recruits in natural regeneration were 63,981 ha−1 and 105,075 ha−1, respectively. In conclusion, invasive spread of rhododendron was a limiting factor of the prosperous regeneration and tree species diversity, and manual clearance of rhododendron is recommended in managed beech forests of the study region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Management of Invasive Species in Forest Ecosystems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 5205 KiB  
Article
Community Attributes Predict the Relationship between Habitat Invasibility and Land Use Types in an Agricultural and Forest Landscape
by Yi Zhou, Yuqiao Su, Yonglin Zhong, Peiyun Xie, Mingfeng Xu and Zhiyao Su
Forests 2019, 10(10), 867; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10100867 - 03 Oct 2019
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2609
Abstract
Finding ecosystem or community level indicators for habitat invasibility may provide natural resource managers with environmentally friendly measures to control alien plant invasion; yet, ecosystem invasibility remains understudied. Here, we investigated alien plant invasion into various ecosystems representing different land use types in [...] Read more.
Finding ecosystem or community level indicators for habitat invasibility may provide natural resource managers with environmentally friendly measures to control alien plant invasion; yet, ecosystem invasibility remains understudied. Here, we investigated alien plant invasion into various ecosystems representing different land use types in a subtropical peri-urban area of south China. Four invasive alien species were found from five out of the six ecosystems. Lower plant diversity in both the overstory and understory was consistently associated with more severe alien plant invasion to the ecosystems. The highest total abundance and plot occurrence of the invasive plants were found in the agroforestry ecosystem representing the highest disturbance. At plot scale, an increase in invasion severity was associated with a significant decrease in overstory stem density, species richness, and diversity, but with a significant increase in overstory plant dominance. The understory community attributes in response to the increase in invasion severity followed similar patterns, except that the stem density increased with invasion severity. Higher canopy openness and thus lower leaf area index and greater understory radiation were associated with higher invasion severity of invasive plants to the understory habitat. For predicting total abundance of the invasive species, the most important variable is land use type, while for the abundance of Lantana camara and Mikania micrantha, the most important predictor variable is overstory Berger–Parker index and canopy openness, respectively. Canopy structure and understory gap light regimes were among the most important factors determining the abundance of the worst invasive plant Mikania micrantha. Our results demonstrate that land use types with varying disturbance regimes determine the spatial heterogeneity in plant diversity and community structure, which predicts alien plant invasion and habitat invasibility; and that the severity of alien plant invasion in turn is a good indicator of habitat disturbance across the ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Control and Management of Invasive Species in Forest Ecosystems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop