Preinvasion Assessment of Exotic Bark Beetle-Vectored Fungi to Detect Tree-Killing Pathogens.

Exotic diseases and pests of trees have caused continental-scale disturbances in forest ecosystems and industries, and their invasions are considered largely unpredictable. We tested the concept of preinvasion assessment of not yet invasive organisms, which enables empirical risk assessment of potential invasion and impact. Our example assesses fungi associated with Old World bark and ambrosia beetles and their potential to impact North American trees. We selected 55 Asian and European scolytine beetle species using host use, economic, and regulatory criteria. We isolated 111 of their most consistent fungal associates and tested their effect on four important southeastern American pine and oak species. Our test dataset found no highly virulent pathogens that should be classified as an imminent threat. Twenty-two fungal species were minor pathogens, which may require context-dependent response for their vectors at North American borders, while most of the tested fungi displayed no significant impact. Our results are significant in three ways; they ease the concerns over multiple overseas fungus vectors suspected of heightened potential risk, they provide a basis for the focus on the prevention of introduction and establishment of species that may be of consequence, and they demonstrate that preinvasion assessment, if scaled up, can support practical risk assessment of exotic pathogens.

Red turpentine beetle: innocuous native becomes invasive tree killer in China.

The red turpentine beetle (RTB), Dendroctonus valens LeConte (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is a secondary pest of pines in its native range in North and Central America. Outbreaks and tree mortality attributed to RTB alone are rare in its native range. RTB was introduced into China in the early 1980s and spread rapidly from Shanxi Province to four adjacent provinces; it has infested over 500,000 ha of pine forest and has caused extensive tree mortality since 1999. We provide a historical background on RTB outbreaks, explanations for its invasive success, management options, and economic impacts of RTB in China. Genetic variation in RTB fungal associates, interactions between RTB and its associated fungi, behavioral differences in Chinese RTB, and other factors favoring RTB outbreaks are considered in an effort to explain the invasiveness of RTB in China. The promise of semiochemicals as a management tool is also discussed.

Biology and preliminary host range assessment of two potential kudzu biological control agents.

Two insect species from China, Gonioctena tredecimmaculata (Jacoby) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Ornatalcides (Mesalcidodes) trifidus (Pascoe) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), were studied in quarantine in the United States as potential biological control agents for kudzu, Pueraria montana variety lobata (Willd.) Maesen and S. Almeida. Adults of G. tredecimmaculata were ovoviviparous and reproduced throughout the summer, producing offspring that had an obligate adult diapause. In no-choice tests, adult and larval G. tredecimmaculata rejected most of the plant species tested, but consumed foliage and completed their life cycle on soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and on a native woodland plant, hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata L. Fernald), which are in the same subtribe as kudzu (Glycininae). Insects showed similar responses to field- and greenhouse-grown soybean and kudzu foliage, despite measurable differences in leaf traits: field-grown foliage of both plants had greater leaf toughness, higher total carbon content, higher trichome density, and lower water content than greenhouse foliage. O. trifidus adults also rejected most of the plants tested but fed on and severely damaged potted soybean and hog-peanut plants in addition to kudzu. Further tests in China are needed to determine whether these species will accept nontarget host plants under open-field conditions.