Defoliation-induced changes in foliage quality may trigger broad-scale insect outbreaks.

Top-down effects, like predation, are drivers of insect outbreaks, but bottom-up effects, like host nutritional quality, also influence outbreaks and could in turn be altered by insect-caused defoliation. We evaluated the prediction that herbivory leads to a positive feedback on outbreak severity as nutrient concentration in plant tissues increases through improved soil nutrient availability from frass and litter deposition. Over seven years of a spruce budworm outbreak, we quantified litter nutrient fluxes, soil nitrogen availability, and host tree foliar nutrient status along a forest susceptibility gradient. As the outbreak progressed, both soil nutrient fluxes and availability increased which, in turn, improved foliage quality in surviving host trees. This is consistent with boosted insect fitness and increased population density and defoliation as outbreaks grow. Our results suggest that a positive bottom-up feedback to forest ecosystems from defoliation may result in conditions favorable to self-amplifying population dynamics in insect herbivores that can contribute to driving broad-scale outbreaks.

Effects of introduced insects and diseases on forest ecosystems in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

Repeated invasions of non-native insects and pathogens have altered the structure and function of forest ecosystems in the Catskill Mountains of New York State, and will continue to do so in the future. Gypsy moth, beech bark disease, and hemlock woolly adelgid are among the insects and diseases currently established in the Catskills that are having significant effects on forests. Many others, including emerald ash borer, Asian long-horned beetle, Phytophthora ramorum, and Sirex wood wasp, are either very recently established in the Catskills or have been found elsewhere in North America and threaten to spread to this region. Short-term disturbances associated with these pests include reduction of productivity, tree decline and mortality, disruption of nutrient cycles, and reduction of seed production. Longer-term impacts are associated with shifts in tree species composition that alter productivity, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity. Catskill forests at mid to high elevations, such as the New York State Forest Preserve lands, are dominated by sugar maple and are particularly vulnerable to pests that use maple as a host, including the Asian long-horned beetle. The simultaneous effects of multiple invading insects and pathogens, and their interactions with changing climate and air pollution regimes, make it very difficult to predict the future composition of Catskill forests.

Changes to the N cycle following bark beetle outbreaks in two contrasting conifer forest types.

Outbreaks of Dendroctonus beetles are causing extensive mortality in conifer forests throughout North America. However, nitrogen (N) cycling impacts among forest types are not well known. We quantified beetle-induced changes in forest structure, soil temperature, and N cycling in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests of Greater Yellowstone (WY, USA), and compared them to published lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) data. Five undisturbed stands were compared to five beetle-killed stands (4-5 years post-outbreak). We hypothesized greater N cycling responses in Douglas-fir due to higher overall N stocks. Undisturbed Douglas-fir stands had greater litter N pools, soil N, and net N mineralization than lodgepole pine. Several responses to disturbance were similar between forest types, including a pulse of N-enriched litter, doubling of soil N availability, 30-50 % increase in understory cover, and 20 % increase in foliar N concentration of unattacked trees. However, the response of some ecosystem properties notably varied by host forest type. Soil temperature was unaffected in Douglas-fir, but lowered in lodgepole pine. Fresh foliar %N was uncorrelated with net N mineralization in Douglas-fir, but positively correlated in lodgepole pine. Though soil ammonium and nitrate, net N mineralization, and net nitrification all doubled, they remained low in both forest types (<6 µg N g soil(-1) NH(4) (+)or NO(3) (-); <25 µg N g soil(-1) year(-1) net N mineralization; <8 µg N g soil(-1) year(-1) net nitrification). Results suggest that beetle disturbance affected litter and soil N cycling similarly in each forest type, despite substantial differences in pre-disturbance biogeochemistry. In contrast, soil temperature and soil N-foliar N linkages differed between host forest types. This result suggests that disturbance type may be a better predictor of litter and soil N responses than forest type due to similar disturbance mechanisms and disturbance legacies across both host-beetle systems.