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Forests
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Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens
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Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 11729

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Tomasz Oszako

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Guest Editor
Department of Forest Protection, Forest Research Institute in Sękocin Stary, Braci Leśnej 3, 05-090 Raszyn, Poland
Interests: forest protection; plant pathology; oomycetes; biodiversity; e-nose; BCA; IPM; VOC; GC-MS; phosphites; phosphogipsum; silicon
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Malewski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, ul. Wilcza 64, 00-679 Warszawa, Poland
Interests: genomics; molecular mechanisms of gene expression; molecular nematology; DNA barcoding; molecular methods of species identification; forensic entomology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Piotr Borowik

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology, ul. Koszykowa 75, 00-662 Warszawa, Poland
Interests: electronic nose; data Analysis; machine learning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The search for effective diagnostic tools for plant pathogens and insect pest detection needs to face new advances. A large number of harmful “alien” species, such as viruses, phytoplasmas, bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes, and weeds, travel undisturbed in various ways, spreading on a large scale, and causing serious problems to different ecosystems including forests and nurseries. Early detection of plant pathogens and insect pests is more and more necessary in plant health monitoring in order to manage disease infections in different stages of development.

Connected to previously mentioned, this Special Issue of Forests welcomes research related to pest and pathogen detection. This includes optical methods, such as the detection of disease patterns on leaves/needles, as well as methods that use resistographs to drill into tree trunks, and non-invasive methods that use the speed of propagation of sound (picus tomograph). In addition, genetic methods such as for example next generation sequencing (NGS) technology are welcome. Research that includes application of electronic noses and electronic tongues are encouraged to be included, too. Furthermore, the articles on detecting bacteria based on taste (the nose detects volatile metabolites) will be more than welcome as they describe advances in detecting liquid metabolites in soil, such as in nurseries for early detection, which is very effective in controlling emerging diseases. Other methods, which fall under the main topic, are also allowed. Review articles are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Tomasz Oszako 
Prof. Dr. Tadeusz Malewski 
Dr. Piotr Borowik 
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • insect pest
  • pathogen
  • tree health
  • pest management
  • pest monitoring
  • pest detection
  • diagnostic methods
  • resistographs
  • non-invasive methods
  • genetic detection methods
  • NGS
  • electronic noses
  • electronic tongues

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3170 KiB  
Article
Rapid and Efficient Molecular Detection of Phytophthora nicotianae Based on RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a
by Jiahui Zang, Tingting Dai, Tingli Liu, Xiaoqiao Xu and Jing Zhou
Forests 2024, 15(6), 952; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15060952 - 30 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 905
Abstract
Phytophthora nicotianae is a global and polyphagous pathogen with a wide host range. P. nicotianae can infect Areca catechu, Durio zibethinus L., Psidium guajava L., Hevea brasiliensis, and other tree species. The pathogen is capable of inducing butt rot and affecting [...] Read more.
Phytophthora nicotianae is a global and polyphagous pathogen with a wide host range. P. nicotianae can infect Areca catechu, Durio zibethinus L., Psidium guajava L., Hevea brasiliensis, and other tree species. The pathogen is capable of inducing butt rot and affecting aerial parts, including stems, leaves, and fruits. Compared to other Phytophthora species, P. nicotianae is more adaptable to abiotic stress. In this study, recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) in combination with the CRISPR/Cas12a system was used for the detection of P. nicotianae, and achieved rapid and efficient detection of P. nicotianae. The assay was highly specific to P. nicotianae. All 4 tested isolates of P. nicotianae yielded positive results, whereas 30 isolates belonging to 17 other Phytophthora species, 8 fungal species, and 4 Bursaphelenchus xylophilus vermicules lacked detection. Under the conditions of 37 °C, after 20 min of RPA reaction and 25 min of Cas12a cleavage, a DNA concentration as low as 10 pg·μL−1 could be detected. In addition, it detected P. nicotianae from artificially inoculated leaves of Fatsia japonica. In this study, a novel method was established for the efficient and accurate detection of P. nicotianae based on the combination of RPA and the CRISPR/Cas12a system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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19 pages, 2626 KiB  
Article
Lightweight Model Design and Compression of CRN for Trunk Borers’ Vibration Signals Enhancement
by Xiaorong Zhao, Juhu Li and Huarong Zhang
Forests 2023, 14(10), 2001; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14102001 - 5 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1145
Abstract
Trunk borers are among the most destructive forest pests. The larvae of some species living and feeding in the trunk, relying solely on the tree’s appearance to judge infestation is challenging. Currently, one of the most effective methods to detect the larvae of [...] Read more.
Trunk borers are among the most destructive forest pests. The larvae of some species living and feeding in the trunk, relying solely on the tree’s appearance to judge infestation is challenging. Currently, one of the most effective methods to detect the larvae of some trunk-boring beetles is by analyzing the vibration signals generated by the larvae while they feed inside the tree trunk. However, this method faces a problem: the field environment is filled with various noises that get collected alongside the vibration signals, thus affecting the accuracy of pest detection. To address this issue, vibration signal enhancement is necessary. Moreover, deploying sophisticated technology in the wild is restricted due to limited hardware resources. In this study, a lightweight vibration signal enhancement was developed using EAB (Emerald Ash Borer) and SCM (Small Carpenter Moth) as insect example. Our model combines CRN (Convolutional Recurrent Network) and Transformer. We use a multi-head mechanism instead of RNN (Recurrent Neural Network) for intra-block processing and retain inter-block RNN. Furthermore, we utilize a dynamic pruning algorithm based on sparsity to further compress the model. As a result, our model achieves excellent enhancement with just 0.34M parameters. We significantly improve the accuracy rate by utilizing the vibration signals enhanced by our model for pest detection. Our results demonstrate that our method achieves superior enhancement performance using fewer computing and storage resources, facilitating more effective use of vibration signals for pest detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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23 pages, 2821 KiB  
Article
Organic Inputs Positively Alter the Bacteriome of Post-Agricultural Soils
by Tadeusz Malewski, Piotr Borowik, Patrycja Golińska, Adam Okorski, Ireneusz Olejarski and Tomasz Oszako
Forests 2023, 14(9), 1711; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14091711 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1279
Abstract
Agriculture can degrade soils and reduce microbial diversity. The reduction in microbial diversity of degraded soils is due to their long-term agricultural use. In most cases, such areas are afforested but rarely succeed in converting them into first-generation pine forests without adequately revitalizing [...] Read more.
Agriculture can degrade soils and reduce microbial diversity. The reduction in microbial diversity of degraded soils is due to their long-term agricultural use. In most cases, such areas are afforested but rarely succeed in converting them into first-generation pine forests without adequately revitalizing the soils and restoring the natural relationships characteristic of forest habitats. This is possible thanks to the positive changes in soil biodiversity. To facilitate and enhance this phenomenon in the present experiment, various forms of organic matter were added to the soil: pine bark compost scattered on the soil surface (BCS) or placed under the roots of the seedlings at planting (BCR), woody debris (WW) and sawdust (S), while the control plot was not treated. The studies started in 2001 on two experimental plots, a poorer one in Bielsk and a more fertile one in Czarne Człuchowskie (eastern and northern Poland, respectively). The following year, 2-year-old pine seedlings (Pinus sylvestris L.) were planted on the plots. After 20 years, the physicochemical properties of the soil and its microbial composition were determined and compared with the control. The results encourage the use of organic matter for established pine forest crops on post-agricultural land for revitalization: C, N, and P content increased both in the organic layer and in the topsoil (up to 40 cm), where most fine roots are located. The total content of exchangeable base cations (Ca, Mg, K) and the sorption capacity of the soils (a measure of the ion binding capacity of the soil) also improved. The genetic analyses carried out using the molecular method (NGS) showed positive changes in the composition of the soil microbiome. Compared to poorer soil conditions in richer habitats, the number of taxa increases when organic matter is added, leading to significant qualitative changes in the bacteriome. The addition of organic material from the forest had a positive effect on the bacterial communities, which in turn accelerated the changes in the diversity of bacteriomes characteristic of agricultural soils and brought them closer to the forest ecosystem. The organic horizon was restored, and at the same time, the biodiversity of the soil microbiome increased, which is important for the health and sustainability of pine stands on formerly agricultural land. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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33 pages, 35794 KiB  
Article
Using Remote Sensing and Climate Data to Map the Extent and Severity of Balsam Woolly Adelgid Infestation in Northern Utah, USA
by Michael J. Campbell, Justin P. Williams and Erin M. Berryman
Forests 2023, 14(7), 1357; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14071357 - 30 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1867
Abstract
Balsam woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelges picea Ratzeburg; BWA) is a nonnative, invasive insect that has infested fir trees in the US for over a century, yet robust methods for mapping BWA have remained elusive. We compare three approaches to mapping BWA in the [...] Read more.
Balsam woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelges picea Ratzeburg; BWA) is a nonnative, invasive insect that has infested fir trees in the US for over a century, yet robust methods for mapping BWA have remained elusive. We compare three approaches to mapping BWA in the subalpine fir forests of northern Utah, the forefront of BWA spread in the western US: (1) using moderate-resolution, multispectral satellite imagery; (2) using terrain and climate data; and (3) using a combination of imagery, terrain, and climate data. While the spectral data successfully detected forest degradation, they failed to distinguish between causal agents of change (R2mean = 0.482; RMSEmean = 0.112). Terrain and climate data identified landscape conditions that promote BWA infestation but lacked the ability to characterize local-scale tree damage (R2mean = 0.746; RMSEmean = 0.078). By combining spectral, terrain, and climate data, we present a repeatable approach for accurately mapping infestation severity that captures both regional abiotic drivers and the local damage signals of BWA (R2mean = 0.836; RMSEmean = 0.065). Highly infested areas featured increased visible and shortwave infrared reflectance over time in the spectral data. The terrain bore little influence on severity, but climate variables indicated that warmer areas are more prone to severe infestation. This research study presents an analytical framework upon which future BWA monitoring efforts can be built. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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8 pages, 2646 KiB  
Communication
A New Species of Ampelovirus Detected in Persea lingue (Ruiz & Pav.) Nees ex Kopp, a Common Tree of the Threatened Chilean Sclerophyll Forest
by Alan Zamorano, Camila Gamboa, Colombina Camilla, Francisca Beltrán, Carlos Magni, Suraj Vaswani, Eduardo Martínez-Herrera and Nicola Fiore
Forests 2023, 14(6), 1257; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061257 - 16 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1381
Abstract
Biotic and abiotic stress seriously affects the development of plants, leading to the death of a significant number of plants in natural landscapes. Over the last twelve years, the central zone of Chile has been under an intensive drought, affecting the species inhabiting [...] Read more.
Biotic and abiotic stress seriously affects the development of plants, leading to the death of a significant number of plants in natural landscapes. Over the last twelve years, the central zone of Chile has been under an intensive drought, affecting the species inhabiting the Chilean Mediterranean forest, which is classified as a biological hotspot. In this context, our group started a small survey to monitor the presence of intracellular pathogens that may be infecting the plants, increasing the damage caused by the water deprivation. Several plants of one species, Persea lingue, showed symptoms of interveinal yellowing and leaf curling. RNA-seq analyses of one of these samples showed the presence of a long contig with high coverage only in symptomatic plants. Phylogenetic analysis and the molecular features indicated that it was a new species of the Ampelovirus genus. RT-PCR analyses determined the presence of the virus only in symptomatic plants of the same natural preserve. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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15 pages, 4198 KiB  
Article
The Role of Forest Stands Characteristics on Formation of Exterior Migratory Outbreak Spots by the Siberian Silk Moth Dendrolimus sibiricus (Tschetv.) during Population Collapse
by Denis A. Demidko, Andrey A. Goroshko, Olga A. Slinkina, Pavel V. Mikhaylov and Svetlana M. Sultson
Forests 2023, 14(6), 1078; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14061078 - 24 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1262
Abstract
The characteristics of Abies sibirica Ledeb.- and Pinus sibirica Du Tour dominated forests stands in outbreak spots formed during a Dendrolimus sibiricus outbreak in 2014–2017 were studied at the stage of population collapse (east of the West Siberian Plain and western foothills of [...] Read more.
The characteristics of Abies sibirica Ledeb.- and Pinus sibirica Du Tour dominated forests stands in outbreak spots formed during a Dendrolimus sibiricus outbreak in 2014–2017 were studied at the stage of population collapse (east of the West Siberian Plain and western foothills of the Yenisei Range). The research was based on the data obtained during ground surveys conducted in 2016 when stands characteristics, the Siberian silk moth population density, and defoliation level were recorded. We classified the studied stands using decision trees and random forest algorithms to identify the key characteristics that determine the formation of outbreak spots. The classification results showed that the characteristics of the detected outbreak spots differ significantly from those previously described for dark coniferous stands of the southern taiga in Siberia. The highest probability of the outbreak spot occurrence in the study area was revealed for stands with the following characteristics: moderately moist site; Siberian stone pine and Siberian fir take 40% or more of stem volume; age of less than 105 years. Another group of forest stands under threat are those sharing the following characteristics: large area (more than 60 ha); stand homogeneity; ground vegetation is dominated by feather mosses; age of more than 120 years; Picea obovata Ledeb. takes a significant share in a stem volume. Such characteristics indicate that during the population collapse, the Siberian silk moth forms outbreak spots in stands that either undergo an early successional stage after previous outbreak or have been slightly damaged during the previous outbreaks due to unfavorable habitat conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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17 pages, 2598 KiB  
Article
Identification and Characterization of Colletotrichum Species Causing Tea-Oil Camellia (Camellia oleifera C.Abel) Anthracnose in Hainan, China
by Hui Zhu and Chaozu He
Forests 2023, 14(5), 1030; https://doi.org/10.3390/f14051030 - 17 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2677
Abstract
Camellia oleifera C.Abel, commonly known as tea-oil camellia, is a type of significant woody oil crop that is widely cultivated in southern China. During 2017–2021, a fungal foliar disease was detected in routine surveys in Hainan. However, diseases of tea-oil camellia are seldom [...] Read more.
Camellia oleifera C.Abel, commonly known as tea-oil camellia, is a type of significant woody oil crop that is widely cultivated in southern China. During 2017–2021, a fungal foliar disease was detected in routine surveys in Hainan. However, diseases of tea-oil camellia are seldom reported in Hainan. In this study, 51 Colletotrichum spp. isolates were obtained from the symptomatic samples of tea-oil camellia, collected from three production sites located in Hainan. A polyphasic approach was applied to distinguish Colletotrichum species. All 51 isolates were primarily characterized morphologically, and six gene regions, including an internally transcribed space of ribosomal DNA (ITS), chitinsynthase (CHS-1), β-tubulin (TUB), actin (ACT), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), and manganese-superoxide (SOD2), were sequenced for each isolate. By combining morphological characterization with multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) based on the six genes, the fungal isolates were identified, representing three Colletrotrichum species: C. fructicola, C. siamense, and C. cordylinicola. The most predominant species was C. fructicola. In pathogenicity tests on the tea-oil camellia cultivar (Reyan1), all collected isolates were pathogenic on tea-oil camellia leaves and were reisolated from symptomatic leaves. Colletotrichum fructicola was the most aggressive species on the attached leaves. This is the first report of C. cordylinicola affecting tea-oil camellia anthracnose worldwide. These results will improve our understanding of the pathogens and provide important insights on the diagnosis and efficient disease management of tea-oil camellia anthracnose. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Detection and Identification of Insect Pests and Pathogens)
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