Population and community ecology of the brown spruce longhorn beetle

随着全球贸易的增加，外来入侵森林昆虫已成为北美森林生态和经济严重干扰的因素。祖母绿灰螟（原产于远东）和棕色云杉长角甲虫（原产于东欧）是最近在加拿大东部建立的两种树木杀手昆虫。这些昆虫在其原生范围内不是害虫，但由于缺乏监管控制和允许种群爆炸的新生态相互作用，导致加拿大的树木死亡。我的研究调查的生态和行为的树木杀人昆虫，他们的宿主树木和天敌，了解为什么以及如何地方性种群转变为流行病的目标。我预测，在昆虫的新范围内相互作用的群落的组成将决定外来昆虫物种成为入侵者的程度。使用棕色云杉长角甲虫作为我的研究系统，我将应用理论（数学模型）和经验（实验室和田间实验）的方法来比较社区相互作用的性质（即与宿主树木，竞争对手和天敌的关系）在加拿大的相互作用发生在甲虫的本土欧洲范围。对群落结构和功能及其与种群动态的相关性的研究将作为预测工具，以确定外来昆虫何时以及是否会发生种群爆发。预测外来物种的入侵性对于理解问题和找到解决方案至关重要。在开发决策支持工具以减轻加拿大森林中外来害虫的影响时，确定“高影响”入侵者将是有帮助的。这项研究的结果将引起入侵生态学家、进化生物学家和森林管理者的兴趣。

With increasing global trade, invasive alien forest insects have become agents of severe ecological and economic disturbance in North American forests. The emerald ash borer (native to the Far East) and the brown spruce longhorn beetle (native to Eastern Europe) are two examples of tree-killing insects that have recently established in Eastern Canada. These insects are not pests in their native range but cause tree mortality in Canada as a result of novel ecological interactions that lack regulatory controls and permit population explosions. My research investigates the ecology and behaviour of tree-killing insects, their host trees and natural enemies with the goal of understanding why and how endemic populations transition into epidemics. I predict that the composition of the interacting community in an insect's new range would determine the extent to which an alien insect species becomes invasive. Using the brown spruce longhorn beetle as my study system, I will apply theoretical (mathematical models) and empirical (laboratory and field experiments) approaches to compare the nature of community interactions (i.e. relationship with host trees, competitors and natural enemies) in Canada to interactions that occur in the beetle's native European range. The study of community structure and function and their correlation with population dynamics will serve as predictive tools to determine when and whether an alien insect will undergo a population outbreak. Predicting the invasiveness of alien species is crucial to understanding the problem and finding solutions. Identification of "high impact" invaders will be helpful when developing decision support tools to mitigate the effects of alien pests in Canada's forests. Results from this research will be of interest to invasion ecologists, evolutionary biologists, and forest managers.