Abstract
To study the effect of the
invasion of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus on the functional
relationship between woody plants and insect communities, the
populations of tree species and insect communities were investigative in
the Masson pine forests with different infestation durations of B.
xylophilus . In this study, the number of Pinus massoniana began
to decrease sharply, whereas the total number of other tree species in
the arboreal layer increased gradually with the infestation duration ofB. xylophilus . The principal component analysis ordination biplot
shows that there was a significant change in the spatial distribution of
woody plant species in different Masson pine forest stands.
Additionally, a total of 7,188 insect specimens was obtained. The insect
population showed an upward trend in stand types with the increase of
pine wilt disease infection periods, which demonstrated that the insect
community had been significantly affected by the invasion of B.
xylophilus . The structure of insect functional groups changed from
herbivorous (He) > omnivorous (Om) > predatory
(Pr) > parasitic (Pa) > detritivorous (De) in
the control stand to He > Pa > Om, De
> Pr after B. xylophilus infestation in the forests.
The results showed that the populations of He, Pa, and De increased
after the invasion of B. xylophilus , but the populations of Pr
decreased. Moreover, the redundancy analysis ordination bi-plots
reflected the complicated functional relationship between woody plant
communities and insects after the invasion of B. xylophilus . The
present study provides insights into the changes in the community
structure of woody plants and insects, as well as the functional
relationship between woody plant communities and insect communities
after invasion of B. xylophilus .