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Abstract Invasive forest insects can induce tree mortality in two ways: (a) by directly harming trees; or (b) by influencing forest owners to pre‐emptively harvest threatened trees. This study investigates forest owners’ intentions to harvest trees threatened by invasive insects.Our first objective is to identify and characterize agent functional types (AFTs) of family forest owners in the northeastern United States using a set of contingent behaviour questions contained in a mail survey. We establish AFTs as a form of dimension reduction, effectively casting landowners into a typology in which each type (AFT) has distinct probabilities of tree harvesting in response to forest insects. Our analysis identifies three functional types of landowners: ‘Cutters’ (46% of respondents; high intent to harvest trees impacted by invasive forest insects), ‘Responsive Cutters’ (42% of respondents; intent sensitive to insect impact severity), and ‘Non‐cutters’ (12% of respondents; low intent to cut).Our second objective is to model AFT membership to predict the distribution of AFTs across the landscape. Predictors are chosen from a set of survey, geographic and demographic features. Our best AFT‐prediction model has three predictor variables: parcel size (hectares of forest), geographical region, and town‐level forested fraction. Application of the model provides a high‐resolution probability distribution of AFTs across the landscape.By coupling human and insect behaviour, our results allow for holistic assessments of how invasive forest insects disturb forests, inclusive of the management response to these pests. A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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Defoliated trees die below a critical threshold of stored carbon
Abstract Carbon starvation posits that defoliation‐ and drought‐induced mortality results from drawing down stored non‐structural carbohydrates (NSCs), but evidence is mixed, and few studies evaluate mortality directly. We tested the relationships among defoliation severity, NSC drawdown and tree mortality by measuring NSCs in mature oak trees defoliated by an invasive insect,Lymantria dispar, across a natural gradient of defoliation severity.We collected stem and root samples from mature oaks (Quercus rubraandQ.alba) in interior forests (n = 34) and forest edges (n = 47) in central Massachusetts, USA. Total NSC (TNC; sugar + starch) stores were analysed with respect to tree size, species and defoliation severity, which ranged between 5% and 100%.TNC stores declined significantly with increasingly severe defoliation. Forest edge trees had higher TNC stores that were less sensitive to defoliation than interior forest trees, although this may be a result of differing defoliation history. Furthermore, we observed a mortality threshold of 1.5% dry weight TNC.Our study draws a direct link between insect defoliation and TNC reserves and defines a TNC threshold below which mortality is highly likely. These findings advance understanding and improve model parametrization of tree response to insect outbreaks, an increasing threat with globalization and climate change. A freePlain Language Summarycan be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1832210
- PAR ID:
- 10446823
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Functional Ecology
- Volume:
- 35
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 0269-8463
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 2156-2167
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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