Host vegetation connectivity is decisive for the natural spread of pine wilt disease.

BACKGROUND: Pine wilt disease has caused significant economic, ecological, and social losses in China, but there is a notable lack of research on the dynamic process of its propagation and diffusion over long timescales. This study revealed the spatial and temporal spread of the natural invasion of pine wilt disease through an analysis of long time series at macroscopic scales. We analysed and verified by simulations the driving mechanisms of host and wind fields in the natural spread of pine wilt disease. RESULTS: The research findings indicate that from 1982 to 2019, the number of counties affected by pine wilt disease in the Yangtze River Delta region of China exhibited a pattern of 'steady increase-fluctuation-outbreak'. The host forest played a decisive role in the natural spread of the disease, while the wind field played a supporting role. The study revealed specific contributions from various factors, where host forest landscape connectivity, host forest area share, mean wind speed, and wind frequency accounted for 31.8%, 28.7%, 22.6%, and 8.8%, respectively. The interaction of increased host forest area and increased wind speed can significantly increase the risk of pine wilt disease transmission. To validate these findings, vectorial metacellular automata simulations of pine nematode transmission in the Yangtze River Delta were conducted, yielding results with an accuracy of 0.803. CONCLUSION: By quantifying the contribution of host forest connectivity to the natural spread of pine wilt disease, this research offers a scientific foundation and innovative insights for preventing and controlling its dissemination. © 2024 Society of Chemical Industry.

Can ecological niche models be used to accurately predict the distribution of invasive insects? A case study of Hyphantria cunea in China.

In recent decades, ecological niche models (ENMs) have been widely used to predict suitable habitats for species. However, for invasive organisms, the prediction accuracy is unclear. In this study, we employed the most widely used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and ensemble model (EM) Biomod2 and verified the practical effectiveness of the ENM in predicting the distribution areas of invasive insects based on the true occurrence of Hyphantria cunea in China. The results showed that when only limited data of invasive areas were used, the two ENMs could not effectively predict the distribution of suitable habitats of H. cunea, although the use of global data can greatly improve the prediction accuracy of ENMs. When analyzing the same data, Biomod2's prediction accuracy was significantly better than that of MaxEnt. For long-term predictions, the area of suitable habitat predicted by the ENMs was much greater than the occurrence area; for short-term predictions, the accuracy of the predicted area was significantly improved. Under the current conditions, the area of suitable habitat for H. cunea in China is 118 × 104 km2, of which 59.32% is moderately or highly suitable habitat. Future climate change could significantly increase the suitable habitat area of H. cunea in China, and the predicted area of suitable habitats in all climate scenarios exceeded 355 × 104 km2, accounting for 36.98% of the total land area in China. This study demonstrates the use of ENMs to study invasive insects and provides a reference for the management of H. cunea in China.

A native fungal symbiont facilitates the prevalence and development of an invasive pathogen-native vector symbiosis.

Invasive pathogen-insect symbioses have been extensively studied in many different ecological niches. Whether the damage of symbioses in different introduced regions might be influenced by other microorganisms has, however, received little attention. Eight years of field data showed that the varied levels of the nematode and beetle populations and infested trees of the invasive Bursaphelenchus xylophilus--Monochamus alternatus symbiosis were correlated with patterns in the isolation frequencies of ophiostomatoid fungi at six sites, while the laboratory experiments showed that the nematode produced greater numbers of offspring with a female-biased sex ratio and developed faster in the presence of one native symbiotic ophiostomatoid fungus, Sporothrix sp. 1. Diacetone alcohol (DAA) from xylem inoculated with Sporothrix sp. 1 induced B. xylophilus to produce greater numbers of offspring. Its presence also significantly increased the growth and survival rate of M. alternatus, and possibly explains the prevalence of the nematode-vector symbiosis when Sporothrix sp. 1 was dominant in the fungal communities. Studying the means by which multispecies interactions contributed to biogeographical dynamics allowed us to better understand the varied levels of damage caused by biological invasion across the invaded range.

[Responses of biological markers of larval Propsilocerus akamusi to phenol].

Taking the 4th-instar larval Propsilocerus akamusi as test object, this paper studied the acute toxicity of phenol, and the body mass, pupation rate, protective enzyme activities, and detoxifying enzyme activities of the larvae under exposure to phenol. The LC50 value of phenol to the larvae after exposure for 6, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h was 222.52, 134.86, 67.74, 47.39, and 35.76 mg x L(-1), respectively, and the dry mass, fresh mass, and pupation rate of the larvae decreased under the exposure of 0. 4, 4, and 40 mg phenol x L(-1). During 72 h exposure to phenol, the larval catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and carboxylesterase (CarE) activities responded to phenol in concentration- and time-dependent way, while the acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities responded slowly and were only inhibited significantly under the exposure to 40 mg x L(-1) of phenol for 48 and 72 h, respectively. It was suggested that the body mass, pupation rate, and CAT, SOD, GST, and CarE activities of 4th-instar larval P. akamusi could be used as the biological markers to monitor the phenol pollution of water body.

Role of human-mediated dispersal in the spread of the pinewood nematode in China.

BACKGROUND: Intensification of world trade is responsible for an increase in the number of alien species introductions. Human-mediated dispersal promotes not only introductions but also expansion of the species distribution via long-distance dispersal. Thus, understanding the role of anthropogenic pathways in the spread of invading species has become one of the most important challenges nowadays. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analysed the invasion pattern of the pinewood nematode in China based on invasion data from 1982 to 2005 and monitoring data on 7 locations over 15 years. Short distance spread mediated by long-horned beetles was estimated at 7.5 km per year. Infested sites located further away represented more than 90% of observations and the mean long distance spread was estimated at 111-339 km. Railways, river ports, and lakes had significant effects on the spread pattern. Human population density levels explained 87% of the variation in the invasion probability (P<0.05). Since 2001, the number of new records of the nematode was multiplied by a factor of 5 and the spread distance by a factor of 2. We combined a diffusion model to describe the short distance spread with a stochastic, individual based model to describe the long distance jumps. This combined model generated an error of only 13% when used to predict the presence of the nematode. Under two climate scenarios (stable climate or moderate warming), projections of the invasion probability suggest that this pest could expand its distribution 40-55% by 2025. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study provides evidence that human-induced dispersal plays a fundamental role in the spread of the pinewood nematode, and appropriate control measures should be taken to stop or slow its expansion. This model can be applied to Europe, where the nematode had been introduced later, and is currently expanding its distribution. Similar models could also be derived for other species that could be accidentally transported by humans.

[Relationship between occurrence of Dryocosmus kuriphilus and development of cecidum].

Dryocosmus kuriphilus is one of the most important pests on chestnut in China, and cecidum is the jeopardized result of Dryocosmus kuriphilus. Under natural condition, the growth status of different cecidum of Dryocosmus kuriphilus was differed, and the weight of individual cecidum was submitted to normal distribution. The zooecium number was positively related to cecidum quality and volume. For three different varieties of chestnut, their resistance to Dryocosmus kuriphilus were different, and the order was Chushuhong > Mifengqiu > Ershuizao. Torymus sinensis Kamijo was the dominant natural enemy. The cecidum-parasitized ratio was 72.7%, and the zooecium-parasitized ratio was 24.06%.