Patch size for Sirex noctilo in fragmented landscapes

CORLEY J.C; M.V. LANTSCHNER; J. M. VILLACIDE

Salt Lake City

Congreso; IUFRO World Congress; 2014

IUFRO

Pine plantations in the Southern hemisphere are established as a mosaic of patches in non-pine habitat. For invasive pine pests, such habitat fragmentation may hinder natural spread rates or ultimately establish barriers that could lead to different populations, each with its own dynamics. For Sirex noctilio, a most significant pest of pines worldwide, it has been shown through flight mill assays, that females are capable of long distance flights of up to 50 km. Such distances could imply a much large continuity in the forested landscape. Here we ask whether females are actually capable of leaving plantations and cross non-habitat landscapes, to reach other plantation patches.