Abstract
Outbreaks of the southern pine beetle (SPB) Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann in Central America have had a devastating impact on pine forests. It remains unclear to what extent these outbreaks are caused by the beetle’s ecology, climate, and historical management practices. Using research data and experience accumulated in northern latitudes to guide management of forests in Central America is associated with great uncertainty, given the many unique features of the conifer forests in this region. The main recommendation from this review is that Central American bark beetle outbreaks need to be studied locally, and the local climate, biotic elements, and silvicultural history need to be considered. The key to reducing the impacts of SPB in Central America are local research and implementation of proactive management, in order to facilitate the establishment of forests more resilient to increasing environmental and anthropogenic pressures.
Highlights
Bark beetles are a natural component of forests in many regions of the world, but they can be a major disturbance agent especially in coniferous forests with low tree species diversity, high, density and environmental stresses
Drought models for Honduras predict an increase in the overall susceptibility for southern pine beetle (SPB) attacks in a climate change scenario [34]. Another climate-related factor that distinguishes Central America from other regions is the effect of overall susceptibility for SPB attacks in a climate change scenario [34]
In the southeastern U.S, the majority of pine mortality due to bark beetles is caused by a single species, the southern pine beetle
Summary
Bark beetles are a natural component of forests in many regions of the world, but they can be a major disturbance agent especially in coniferous forests with low tree species diversity, high, density and environmental stresses. The southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, is the most destructive insect pest of pine forests in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America This native insect lives predominantly in the phloem and the inner bark of pine trees, where females colonize live or freshly dead phloem tissue to construct S-shaped galleries that can effectively girdle a tree, causing its death [10]. A fire-thinned forest is naturally less susceptible to large outbreaks, as seen in the mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae (Hopkins) [23,24] Both beetle outbreaks and fire are exacerbated by the same drivers: unnatural density of forest stands often resulting from inadequate thinning or from fire suppression, and changes in climate [6]. We critically analyze regional empirical and circumstantial data available from a management and climate perspective
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