Pest Invasions and Biological Control in Forests

Dear Colleagues,

Forest depletion caused by non-native invasive pests [pathogens (fungi, viruses, and bacteria), insects, and nematodes] is a widespread issue with significant consequences for populations, communities, ecosystems, and economies worldwide. The invasion of several non-native forest species is mostly caused by international commerce activities such as transportation, plant import/export, shipping pallets, and various other wood products, with the ensuing management consisting of opportunities for pre- and post-border mitigation. Preventive measures include biosecurity approaches aimed at avoiding the introduction of invasive species through direct (i.e., specific risk assessment planning, horizon scanning, and early warning and detection) and indirect (e.g., raising stakeholders’ knowledge and awareness) monitoring and surveillance activities. Even if pre-border strategies are considered the best investment in terms of costs and benefits, they are not always effective and the number of forest pest incursions continues to rise. Post-border scenarios can be widely different depending on the time of action. Early detection and rapid management can reduce the impact of pest introduction, by limiting the spread and the possibilities of establishment and naturalization. Biological control is actually one of the main, and few, containment measures to achieve self‐sustaining long‐term control, and considered extremely challenging, since multiple biological factors may influence its effectiveness.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Regulation and coordination of forest species invasion managing programs;
• Augmentative biological control of forest pests: risks and resources;
• Innovative technologies and approaches for the early detection of invasive species;
• Model-based prediction of potential distribution of invasive pests;
• Citizen science approach as a helping tool for the monitoring and early detection of forest pests;
• Effects of climate change on the occurrence of invasive pests;
• Effects of catastrophic events on forest pest invasions;
• Effects of (recent) human conflicts on forest pest invasions.

Dr. Claudia Pisuttu
Dr. Valeria Zeni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biological control
• alien species
• citizen science
• early detection
• climate change
• modelling
• prediction
• surveillance
• pest management
• long-term control