A process of adaptive divergence for tolerance to high temperatures was identified using a rare model system, consisting of two sympatric populations of a Lepidoptera (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) with different life cycle timings, a ‘mutant’ population with summer larval development, Leiria SP, and the founder natural population, having winter larval development, Leiria WP. A third, allopatric population (Bordeaux WP) was also studied. First and second instar larvae were experimentally exposed to daily‐cycles of heat treatment reaching maximum values of 36, 38, 40 and 42 °C; control groups placed at 25 °C. A lethal temperature effect was only significant at 42 °C, for Leiria SP, whereas all temperatures tested had a significant negative effect upon Leiria WP, thus indicating an upper threshold of survival c.a. 6 °C above that of the WP. Cox regression model, for pooled heat treatments, predicted mortality hazard to increase for Leiria WP (+108%) and Bordeaux WP (+78%) in contrast to Leiria SP; to increase by 24% for each additional °C; and to decrease by 53% from first to second instar larvae. High variability among individuals was observed, a population characteristic that may favour selection and consequent adaptation. Present findings provide an example of ecological differentiation, following a process of allochronic divergence. Results further contribute to a better understanding of the implications of climate change for ecological genetics.

Abstract• The effect of water stress on host selection and performance during the shoot feeding phase, by the Mediterranean pine shoot beetle Tomicus destruens, was studied.• Young potted Pinus pinaster plants were subjected to two water supply regimes: (i) well watered; (ii) 4-5 months of moderate drought stress. Plant volatile organic compound (VOCs) emissions were collected by SPME and analysed by GC/MS.• In tests with paired plants, the number of holes and tunnels excavated by beetles in well watered pines was significantly larger than in stressed plants, whereas in no-choice tests no differences occurred.• Beetle survival was significantly higher on well watered, than on stressed pines (p = 0.006), while fat contents also increased (p = 0.09).• Plants could be assigned to treatments based on VOCs emissions, stressed pines emitting more myrcene and less β-pinene than well watered ones.• It is concluded that during the shoot feeding phase, T. destruens preferentially attacks non-stressed plants, in detriment of stressed ones, upon which a higher fitness is attained.• The role of pines VOCs emissions under moderate drought stress, in the host selection and colonization process by the pine shoot beetle, is discussed.

Background: Forest policy and decision makers are challenged by the need to balance the increasing demand for multiple ecosystem services while addressing the impacts of natural disturbances (e.g. wild res, droughts, wind, insect attacks) and global change scenarios (e.g. climate change) on its potential supply. This challenge provides the motivation for the development of a framework for incorporating concerns with a wide range of ecosystem services in multiple criteria management planning contexts. Thus, the paper focused on both the analysis of the current state-of-the art in forest management planning and the development of a conceptual framework to accommodate various components in a forest ecosystem management planning process. Results: Based on a thorough recent classi cation of forest management planning problems and the state-of-the-art research, the key dimensions of that framework and the process were de ned. The emphasis is on helping identify how concerns with a wide range of ecosystem services may be analyzed and better understood by forest ecosystem management planning. This research discusses the potential of contemporary management planning approaches to address multiple forest ecosystem services. It highlights the need of a landscape-level perspective and of spatial resolution to integrate multiple ecosystem services. It discusses the importance of methods and tools that may help support the involvement of stakeholders and public participation in hierarchical planning processes. Conclusions: The research addressed the need of methods and tools that may encapsulate the ecological, economic and social complexity of forest ecosystem management to provide an e cient plan, information about tradeoffs between ecosystem services as well as the sensitivity of the plan to uncertain parameters (e.g. prices, climate change) in a timely manner.

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Specialization is an important attribute of a biological control agent. The maritime pine bast scale, Matsucoccus feytaudi Ducasse (Hemiptera Matsucoccidae), is an invasive species in Southeast France and the North of Italy. Iberorhyzobius rondensis Eizaguirre (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), is a recently described ladybird species. Both adults and larvae are predaceous, feeding on egg masses of M. feytaudi, and are strongly attracted to M. feytaudi's sex pheromone. To evaluate the potential of I. rondensis as a biocontrol agent of the scale, we studied its niche breadth and prey range with emphasis on pine forests and hemipterans as tested prey. In this study, I. rondensis was found to achieve complete development only when fed on M. feytaudi egg masses (92.9% survival) and an artificial prey: eggs of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (27.6% survival). From the 2nd instar onwards, complete development could be achieved using other prey species, although larvae had significantly higher mortality and slower development. In choice tests, M. feytaudi was the preferred prey. Surveys of the ladybird populations in the Iberian Peninsula revealed that it was found exclusively on Pinus pinaster Aiton, the sole host of M. feytaudi. The unusual specialization of I. rondensis, among other predaceous ladybirds, makes it an appropriate candidate for classical biological control of M. feytaudi.

Several pine bast scales (Hemiptera: Matsucoccidae) are important pests of pine trees in the Northern Hemisphere. Some species are invasive and cause significant economic and environmental impacts. Such is the case with Matsucoccus feytaudi Ducasse, an invasive pest of maritime pine forests in Southeastern France, Italy, and Corsica. The ladybird Iberorhyzobius rondensis (Eizaguirre) is a recently described species that is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and is a potential candidate for the biological control of M. feytaudi. However, little is known of the biology of I. rondensis. As part of the risk assessment study for a classical biological control program, the phenology and reproductive mechanisms of the beetle were analyzed. I. rondensis is univoltine and is seasonally synchronized with the phenology of the prey M. feytaudi, which is also univoltine. An obligatory reproductive diapause of 5-6 mo and the need to feed on the eggs of the prey to begin oviposition emerged as the two primary mechanisms that assure life cycle synchronization of the ladybird with its prey. Female fecundity was also higher when the ladybirds were fed M. feytaudi eggs. Life cycle synchronization with M. feytaudi and reproduction triggered by consumption of prey eggs indicate that I. rondensis is a promising biological control agent of the pine bast scale.

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