1,721,004 research outputs found
From arrival to spread: improving the early-detection of alien wood-boring beetles
Get PDFThe introduction of alien species in new habitats is a global and growing problem worldwide. Since the discovery of the Americas about 10,000 species have been introduced in Europe, mainly plants and insects. Among the latter, wood-boring beetles (mainly Scolytinae, Cerambycidae and Buprestidae) are recognized as one of the most successful group of invaders. These insects can be transported in almost all types of woody materials and, once introduced and established, they can cause enormous damage to ecosystems and economies of the invaded countries. In addition to traditional control methods, in the last years several countries have implemented other kinds of tools, such as traps baited with attractive lures, in order to enhance the chances of alien wood-boring beetles interception. Resources available for these activities are however limited while the number of sites that should be monitored is extremely high. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to have reliable and efficient trapping protocols as well as to understand where surveillance efforts should be focused. However, the general solution of this problem is strictly related to a better comprehension of the three steps characterizing the invasion process: arrival, establishment and spread.
This thesis has two main aims: first, to enhance the early-detection of alien wood-boring beetles at high-risk sites located both in coastal and continental areas, and second, to gain insight into the mechanisms driving the alien wood-boring beetle invasion process.
The first study concerns the development of efficient early-detection protocols that can be adopted for the interception of alien wood-boring beetles arriving at European ports of entry. This is focused on how different use of attractive lures, different trap models and trap positions (inside ports vs surrounding areas) may influence the chances of interception of alien species. The results suggest the use of multi-funnel traps baited with different lures for monitoring alien wood-boring beetles. The deployment of traps outside the port is also recommended to validate the surveillance program.
The second study concerns how port size, in terms of amount of imported commodities, and characteristics of the landscape surrounding the ports, in terms of forest cover and forest composition, may affect the early-detection of alien wood-boring beetles. The results suggest that surveillance should be focused mainly in large ports and in the surrounding broadleaf forests, deploying traps simultaneously in both habitats.
The third study is focused on the comparison between ports of entry and wood waste landfills, considered as the final destination of a large part of wood packaging materials imported together with goods. The results show that wood waste landfills are a crucial site where detecting alien species associated with woody materials, even in continental areas far away from the coasts.
The forth and fifth studies investigate how the main climatic and environmental variables affect the establishment and spread of alien bark and ambrosia beetles at both regional and continental scale. The main results demonstrate that the invasion process of exotic scolytids is not random and that both climate and forest composition play a key role in shaping their communities and their spatial distribution in the invaded environment. However, these mechanisms occur differently according to the feeding guild of the two main groups of scolytids, the bark beetles and the ambrosia beetles.
In general, the five studies carried out in this thesis provide suggestions to increase the probability of an early-detection of alien species both in coastal and continental areas, describing a protocol applicable both at local and international scale. At the same time, they contribute to improve the knowledge about the mechanisms characterizing the invasion process of alien wood-boring beetles, information that can be of utmost importance for the development of future strategies focused to reduce economic and environmental damage due to alien species
FIGURE 2 in Two newly introduced tropical bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) damaging figs (Ficus carica) in southern Italy
No full textFIGURE 2. Female of Xyleborus bispinatus, dorsal viewPublished as part of Faccoli, Massimo, Campo, Giuseppe, Perrotta, Giancarlo & Rassati, Davide, 2016, Two newly introduced tropical bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) damaging figs (Ficus carica) in southern Italy, pp. 189-194 in Zootaxa 4138 (1) on page 192, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4138.1.10, http://zenodo.org/record/26086
Two newly introduced tropical bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) damaging figs (Ficus carica) in southern Italy
No full textFaccoli, Massimo, Campo, Giuseppe, Perrotta, Giancarlo, Rassati, Davide (2016): Two newly introduced tropical bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) damaging figs (Ficus carica) in southern Italy. Zootaxa 4138 (1): 189-194, DOI: http://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4138.1.1
Un approccio sperimentale all’individuazione di coleotteri xilofagi invasivi in aree ad alto rischio di introduzione.
No full textFungal communities associated with gallery systems of the European shot-hole borer (Anisandrus dispar) in declining oak trees
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
"Effects of host trees on colonization patterns by ambrosia beetles under different abiotic stressors"
Get PDFopenAmbrosia beetles are polyphagous insects able to attack several broadleaf tree species causing damages. They mainly attack weakened trees attracted by the emission of ethanol from the plant. Adult females create tunnels into the stems and branches of host plants to create galleries with brood chambers and cultivate their own nutritional fungal symbionts on gallery walls. In order to better understand the colonization patterns of ambrosia beetles, an experiment has been set in the natural area of “Bosco Nordio”. Here we used potted trees of eight different species (four species from the order of the Fagales, and four from the Rosales order) which were randomly assigned to three different treatments: control, injection with ethanol, and flooding. The main objectives of this thesis are (i) to check whether colonization success of different ambrosia beetles changes depending on the tree species, and (ii) to describe if the latter trends change in the three treatments. Four different species of ambrosia beetles were identified: Xylosandrus crassiusculus, Xylosandrus germanus, Xyleborinus saxesenii and Xyleborus monographus. Main results showed a differential attractiveness of the eight tested tree species to the different ambrosia beetles and also that the injected plants were attacked more than the flooded ones.Ambrosia beetles are polyphagous insects able to attack several broadleaf tree species causing damages. They mainly attack weakened trees attracted by the emission of ethanol from the plant. Adult females create tunnels into the stems and branches of host plants to create galleries with brood chambers and cultivate their own nutritional fungal symbionts on gallery walls. In order to better understand the colonization patterns of ambrosia beetles, an experiment has been set in the natural area of “Bosco Nordio”. Here we used potted trees of eight different species (four species from the order of the Fagales, and four from the Rosales order) which were randomly assigned to three different treatments: control, injection with ethanol, and flooding. The main objectives of this thesis are (i) to check whether colonization success of different ambrosia beetles changes depending on the tree species, and (ii) to describe if the latter trends change in the three treatments. Four different species of ambrosia beetles were identified: Xylosandrus crassiusculus, Xylosandrus germanus, Xyleborinus saxesenii and Xyleborus monographus. Main results showed a differential attractiveness of the eight tested tree species to the different ambrosia beetles and also that the injected plants were attacked more than the flooded ones
Coleoptera damaging wood of Vitis vinifera (Vitaceae) and related monitoring methods
No full textopenDalla scoperta dell’America ad oggi, si stima che siano state introdotte in Europa 10.000 specie aliene, tra piante ed insetti, determinando così un importante rimescolamento dei biota.
Tra le tipologie di insetti maggiormente introdotti si possono sicuramente annoverare i coleotteri (Insecta: Coleoptera) ad abitudini xilofaghe, sia a livello larvale che di adulto.
L’introduzione di questi insetti negli areali non nativi si deve principalmente agli scambi commerciali, ed in particolare al trasporto di beni legnosi, piante ed imballaggi quali pallet e casse.
Molte specie non-native, una volta insediate nel nuovo areale, non avendo predatori o competitori, possono arrecare ingenti danni sia all’ecosistema naturale che alle piante coltivate.
Negli ultimi anni i coleotteri xilofagi si sono rivelati essere una minaccia sempre maggiore nei vigneti di tutto il mondo e ci si aspetta che questa problematica possa ulteriormente aumentare nel prossimo futuro, anche a causa dei cambiamenti climatici. Per questo motivo è di assoluta importanza riuscire ad individuare, riconoscere e monitorare ad interesse fitosanitario per i vigneti, e creare consapevolezza circa la reale minaccia che questi insetti possono presentare se introdotti in un nuovo ambiente. Con il presente lavoro si è quindi cercato di riassumere e condensare in un database, le conoscenze esistenti circa le specie di coleotteri associate a danni su Vitis vinifera in tutto il mondo.
Nel database sono stati riportati inoltre: il tipo di danno arrecato, le metodiche di monitoraggio ed infine la distribuzione della specie a livello mondiale.
Nonostante le molteplici precauzioni che attualmente si stanno mettendo in atto per prevenire ed impedire l’introduzione accidentale di insetti alieni il loro inserimento sembra comunque inevitabile.
Il commercio non è infatti l’unica causa che determina l’introduzione e l’insorgenza di problemi con le specie invasive; bisogna tenere in considerazione la monoculturazione dei vigneti, che in Italia e in tutto il mondo stanno occupando territori sempre più ampi, ed il cambiamento climatico che sta creando habitat favorevoli all’insediamento di specie aliene in aree geografiche prima non idonee.From the discovery of America to today, it is estimated that 10,000 alien species, including plants and insects, have been introduced into Europe, thus causing an important reshuffling of biota.
Among the types of insects most introduced we can certainly include beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) with xylophagous habits, both at larval and adult level.
The introduction of these insects in non-native areas is mainly due to commercial exchanges, and especially the transport of woody goods, plants and packaging such as pallets and crates.
Many non-native species, once settled in the new area, having no predators or competitors, can cause significant damage to both the natural ecosystem and the cultivated plants.
In recent years, wood-boring beetles have proved to be an increasing threat in vineyards around the world and it is expected that this problem may further increase soon, also due to climate change. For this reason, it is of absolute importance to be able to identify, recognize and monitor phytosanitary interest for the vineyards, and create awareness about the real threat that these insects can present if introduced into a new environment. With this work we have therefore tried to summarize and condense in a database, the existing knowledge about the beetle species associated with damage on Vitis vinifera all over the world.
The database also reported: the type of damage caused, the monitoring methods and finally the distribution of the species worldwide.
Despite the many precautions that are currently being put in place to prevent and prevent the accidental introduction of alien insects, their insertion still seems inevitable.
In fact, trade is not the only cause that determines the introduction and the onset of problems with invasive species; it is necessary to consider the monoculturation of the vineyards, which in Italy and throughout the world are occupying ever larger territories,
and the climate change that is creating favorable habitats for the settlement of alien species in previously unsuitable geographical areas
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