The importance of climatic matching in classical biocontrol of an invasive forest insect

CORLEY, JUAN C; LANTSCHNER, MARÍA VICTORIA; FISCHBEIN, DÉBORAH

Congreso; IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress; 2017

Classical biocontrol considers climatic matching with that of the pest as key criteria for selection of potential natural enemies. However, as a largely empirical field, releases into new regions are often based on effective past experiences reported for other regions, with little local adaptation of techniques and very limited new research. Focusing on the case-study of the woodwasp Sirex noctilio, likely the most important pest of pine plantations of the Southern Hemisphere, we used climate-based ecological niche models (MaxEnt) to define the potential distribution of two of its parasitoids, Megarhyssa nortoni and Ibalia leucospoides in the Southern Hemisphere, and compared our findings against data on historical releases. We found that our models predicted the establishment of both parasitoids in only part of the regions where S. noctilio invaded, and it matched those regions where parasitoids successfully established. While this is not unexpected, our findings emphasize the need for species-specific research on the ecology of natural enemies, including studies of climatic adaptation and their consequences on the interactions of parasitoids with their hosts. Such work will improve the chances for successful establishment of natural enemies in new areas, and also help predict best the outcome of classical biological control of forest pests.