AGE OF Eucalyptus urograndis PLANTATIONS AND OCCURRENCE OF PEST INSECTS

Abstract

-Eucalyptus species are originally from Australia and its plantations is the major forestry activity in Brazil. The Myrtaceae family is widely represented in Brazil, enabling native insects to migrate to Eucalyptus plants. Native herbivorous insects may adapt to the species planted in monoculture with low availability of their natural host plants and natural enemies. Within this context, the differential occurrence pattern of eleven insect pests of Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Hemiptera orders, from 450 Eucalyptus stands of different ages recorded in 2002 to 2010 in eastern State of Minas Gerais, Brazil was evaluated. Bayesian inference was used for data analyses in hypothesis testing. The probability of occurrence of pest species was estimated using a linear multinomial model, relating their occurrence with the Eucalyptus stand age. Pest occurrence in Eucalyptus stands were linked to plant age, with younger ones being more susceptible to phytophagous insects. That association with chronological plant age may be associated with the resource exploration strategy of each group of pest insects. Thus, Eucalyptus forest management should be adapted to the temporally differential use of the stands by pest species, providing more efficient control strategies.Keywords: Population ecology; Bayesian inference; Forestry pest management. IDADE DO PLANTIO DE Eucalyptus urograndis E A OCORRÊNCIA DE INSETOS PRAGASRESUMO -As espécies de Eucalyptus são originárias da Austrália e suas plantações são a principal atividade florestal no Brasil. A família Myrtaceae é amplamente representada no Brasil, permitindo que insetos nativos utilizem as plantas de Eucalyptus. Insetos herbívoros nativos podem se adaptar-se a espécies plantadas em monoculturas quando privados de suas plantas hospedeiras naturais e inimigos naturais. Nesse contexto, o padrão de ocorrência diferencial de 11 espécies de insetos pragas das ordens Lepidoptera, Coleoptera e Hemiptera, de 450 talhões de Eucalyptus de idades variadas, foi avaliado entre 2002 e 2010 no leste do Estado de Minas Gerais foi avaliado. A inferência bayesiana foi usada para análise de dados nos testes de hipóteses. A probabilidade de ocorrência das espécies pragas foi estimada usando um modelo multinomial linear, relacionando sua ocorrência com a idade do talhão de Eucalyptus. A ocorrência das pragas nos talhões de Eucalyptus foi relacionada à idade da planta, observando-se que talhões mais jovens foram mais suscetíveis à insetos fitófagos. Essa associação com períodos cronológicos da planta pode estar associado às estratégias de exploração que cada grupo de insetos praga apresenta. Assim, o manejo de florestas de Eucalyptus deve ser adaptado com base no diferencial das espécies pragas no talhão, gerando estratégias mais eficientes de controle de pragas.Palavras-chave: Ecologia de populações; Inferência Bayesiana; Manejo de pragas florestais.

The effect of climatic conditions on the seasonality of pest insect populations in Eucalyptus plantations in the Neotropics

“…Therefore, any change in any of these conditions could directly impact populations. Morphological and functional adaptations of eucalyptus pests to use the resource, be it the leaves or the tree trunk, may explain their temporally differentiated occurrence (Andrade et al 2016).…”

“…Eucalyptus production faces challenges from native pests, such as ants, defoliating caterpillars, termites, and beetles, which can limit productivity (Andrade et al 2016). Pests are a major challenge for the forestry sector in the Brazilian context (Santos et al 2008) because eucalyptus production losses can reach 10-30% of the wood volume due to insect pests (Barbosa et al 2019).…”

Local factors and bionomic characteristics determining the occurrence of semiaquatic bugs in streams of Central Amazonia

“…The 17 species used in the hypothesis tests are distributed among seven genera, some of which were only separated into morphotypes through morphological traits (Table 1). The separation into morphotypes has proven to be a viable and practical tool in ecological studies (Andrade et al, 2016). Although the number of occurrences for some morphotypes was low, we chose to maintain then, because the analysis based on maximum likelihood uses the subsample (in our study five in each stream) to fit the models, increasing the number of observations for each morphotype.…”

The survival, development, and reproduction of Gonipterus platensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) on the main Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) genotypes planted in Brazil

“…The large areas with forest plantations and increase in the international trade of the wood products ( e.g. , wood packaging, tree logs, and wood chips), contribute to the introduction and spread of insect pests to uninfested geographic regions with Eucalyptus plantations ( Andrade et al, 2016 ; Almeida et al, 2018 ; Meurisse et al, 2019 ; Tomé et al, 2021 ).…”