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ABSTRACT Ceracris nigricornis Walker is an insect of the Acrididae, which can harm bamboo, rice, corn, sorghum and other crops, and can cause serious economic losses. In this study, based on 234 occurrence sites of C. nigricornis obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and literature, and data of three future climate scenarios presented by CMIP6, two niche models (GARP, MaxEnt) were used to predict the suitable area of C. nigricornis in China. The result shows that the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of C. nigricornis are min temperature of coldest month (bio6), mean temperature of coldest quarter (bio11), precipitation of driest month (bio14) and precipitation of wettest quarter (bio16). From the result of MaxEnt model, it can be seen that the suitable area of C. nigricornis in China is 128.91 × 104 km2 under current scenario. It will decrease by 3.19% in the 2050s and then increase by 12.04% in the 2090s under the SSP1‐2.6 scenario, increase by 5.79% in the 2050s and then decrease by 7.53% in the 2090s under the SSP2‐4.5 scenario, and increase by 33.03% in 2050s and then decrease by 23.31% in the 2090s under SSP5‐8.5 scenario. From the result of GARP model, it can be seen that the suitable area of C. nigricornis in China is 166.09 × 104 km2 under current scenario. It will increase by 8.41% in 2050s and then continue to increase by 6.11% in 2090s under SSP1‐2.6 scenario, increase by 23.84% in the 2050s and then decrease by 0.88% in the 2090s under the SSP2‐4.5 scenario, and increase by 34.37% in 2050s and then decrease by 1.75% in 2090s under SSP5‐8.5 scenario. The boundaries of suitable areas will expand to the north and southwest of China under future climate change scenarios, specially in Sichuan, Chongqing and Yunnan. Local forestry authorities should strengthen the monitoring of bamboo forests to prevent the damage caused by the introduction of C. nigricornis.

Abstract Ceracris kiangsu Tsai (C. kiangs) is a kind of forest pest, which can harm nearly 100 kinds of weeds and crops. In this study, based on 314 species distribution points of C. kiangsu which were obtained from Chinese herbaria, literatures and investigation, and data of three future climate scenarios presented by CMIP6, two niche models (Garp, Maxent) were used to predict the suitable area of C. kiangsu in China. The result shows that the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of C. kiangsu are precipitation of driest month (bio14) and min temperature of coldest month (bio6). No matter now and future, the potential distribution areas of C. kiangsu in China are mainly in the south of Qinling–Huaihe River. Under current scenarios, the areas of the total, highly, moderately and poorly suitable of C. kiangsu in China are 160.65 × 104 km2, 31.70 × 104 km2, 60.36 × 104 km2 and 68.59 × 104 km2 respectively. The southern Hubei, western Jiangxi and eastern Hunan are highly-suitable areas. Under SSP1-2.6 and SSP2-4.5 scenarios, both the total suitable area and the highly suitable show a decreasing tread in 2050s. Compared to the 2050s, the total suitable area will coninue to decease in 2090s under SSP1-2.6, while it will increase under SSP2-4.5. The highly suitable area will increase in both scenarios, and the increased percentage under SSP2-4.5 is greater than that under SSP1-2.6. Under SSP5-8.5 scenarios, the total suitable area will increase by 1.83% in the 2050s, and decrease by 1.17% in the 2090s. The highly suitable area in the 2050s and 2090s under this scenarios is larger than under current scenarios. No matter what the scenario, the southern part of Yunnan, the southeast of Sichuan and the southwest of Chongqing will become highly-suitable areas as the climate continues to warm and should be monitored more cosely.

The biological characteristics of Lymantria xylina Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), a moth that threatens coastal forests in Fuzhou, China, are closely linked to its spread risk. To characterize these traits, we primarily investigated emergence, reproductive, and flight behaviors. Our findings show that females typically emerge, mate, and copulate during specific times of day. The peak hours of emergence, courtship, and copulation are 13:00–14:00, 19:00–21:00, and around 0:00, respectively. The starting time of oviposition was concentrated before dawn and during the daytime. They preferentially lay eggs on columnar objects, including artificial ones. On average, females laid 361 eggs, lived for 4.5 days, and weighed 0.74 g. Non-ovipositing females were observed to fly for short distances, especially during the evening. Field observations suggest that these females can potentially travel up to 184.5 m in total and 34.5 m continuously. While this indicates a theoretical risk of long-distance dispersal, our findings suggest that the overall risk is limited. These results contribute to our understanding of the biology and dispersal potential of L. xylina.

Abstract In recent decades, ecological niche models (ENMs) have been widely used to predict suitable habitats for species. However, for invasive organisms, the prediction accuracy is unclear. In this study, we employed the most widely used maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model and ensemble model (EM) Biomod2 and verified the practical effectiveness of the ENM in predicting the distribution areas of invasive insects based on the true occurrence of Hyphantria cunea in China. The results showed that when only limited data of invasive areas were used, the two ENMs could not effectively predict the distribution of suitable habitats of H. cunea, although the use of global data can greatly improve the prediction accuracy of ENMs. When analyzing the same data, Biomod2's prediction accuracy was significantly better than that of MaxEnt. For long‐term predictions, the area of suitable habitat predicted by the ENMs was much greater than the occurrence area; for short‐term predictions, the accuracy of the predicted area was significantly improved. Under the current conditions, the area of suitable habitat for H. cunea in China is 118 × 104 km2, of which 59.32% is moderately or highly suitable habitat. Future climate change could significantly increase the suitable habitat area of H. cunea in China, and the predicted area of suitable habitats in all climate scenarios exceeded 355 × 104 km2, accounting for 36.98% of the total land area in China. This study demonstrates the use of ENMs to study invasive insects and provides a reference for the management of H. cunea in China.

Basilepta melanopus is a pest that severely affects oil tea plants, and the Notch signaling pathway plays a significant role in the early development of insect ovaries. In this study, we explored the function of the notch gene within the Notch signaling pathway in the reproductive system of B. melanopus. The functional domains and expression patterns of Bmnotch were analyzed. Bmnotch contains 45 epidermal growth factor-like (EGF-like) domains, one negative regulatory region, one NODP domain and one repeat-containing domain superfamily. The qPCR reveals heightened expression in early developmental stages and specific tissues like the head and ovaries. The RNA interference (RNAi)-based suppression of notch decreased its expression by 52.1%, exhibiting heightened sensitivity to dsNotch at lower concentrations. Phenotypic and mating experiments have demonstrated that dsNotch significantly impairs ovarian development, leading to reduced mating frequencies and egg production. This decline underscores the Notch pathway’s crucial role in fecundity. The findings advocate for RNAi-based, Notch-targeted pest control as an effective and sustainable strategy for managing B. melanopus populations, signifying a significant advancement in forest pest control endeavors.

Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Kuzen is a major tree species with high economic and ecological value in the Greater Khingan Mountains coniferous forest of Northeast China. Reconstructing the priority Conservation Area of Larix gmelinii under Climate could provide a scientific basis for its germplasm conservation and management. The present study used ensemble and Marxan model simulations to predict species distribution areas and delineate priority conservation areas for Larix gmelinii in relation to productivity characteristics, understory plant diversity characteristics, and climate change impacts. The study revealed that the Greater Khingan Mountains and the Xiaoxing'an Mountains, with an area of approximately 300 974.2 km2, were the most suitable for L. gmelinii. The stand productivity of L. gmelinii in the most suitable area was significantly higher than that in the less suitable and marginally suitable areas, but understory plant diversity was not dominant. The increase in temperature under future climate change scenarios will reduce the potential distribution and area under L. gmelinii; the species will migrate to higher latitudes of the Greater Khingan Mountains, while the degree of niche migration will gradually increase. Under the 2090s-SSP585 climate scenario, the most suitable area for L. gmelinii will completely disappear, and the climate model niche will be completely separated. Therefore, the protected area of L. gmelinii was demarcated with a target of the productivity characteristics, understory plant diversity characteristics and climate change sensitive area, and the current key protected area was 8.38 × 104 km2. Overall, the study’s findings will lay a foundation for the protection and rational development and utilization of cold temperate coniferous forests dominated by L. gmelinii in the northern forested region of the Greater Khingan Mountains.

The rapid spread of pine wilt disease has become a major crisis with regard to forest ecological security. Against the background of China’s concerted effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, balancing economic and environmental costs during the environmentally sound treatment of nematode-infected pine wood is an issue worthy of attention. In this study, we constructed an evolutionary game model of the central government, local governments, and infected wood management-related enterprises and analyzed the evolutionary process of the three parties with stable strategies based on a full consideration of actual circumstances. To verify the theoretical results, we conducted numerical simulations using MATLAB. The results of the study are as follows. 1) The central government plays a decisive role in how infected wood is handled. The greater the degree of regulation is, the greater the local government favors low carbon emissions and the more companies will choose the pulverization method. 2) Local governments bear the main responsibility in the processing of infected wood, and only when local governments are sufficiently penalized will enterprises choose to pulverize the wood and dispose of it. 3) Policy subsidies are an effective measure that will help the three parties in the model reach a balance more quickly. Overall, this study clarified the realization path of low-carbon treatment of nematode-infected pine wood from a policy perspective. The study results should help promote the low-carbon treatment of nematode-infected pine wood and provide a basis for the formulation of relevant forestry policies in the context of carbon neutrality.

Habitat loss and human threats are putting the marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) on the brink of extinction. Numerous recent studies have found that climate change will further deteriorate the living environment of endangered species, leading to their eventual extinction. In this study, we used the results of infrared camera surveys in China and worldwide distribution data to construct an ensemble model consisting of 10 commonly used ecological niche models to specify potential suitable habitat areas for V. peregusna under current conditions with similar environments to the sighting record sites. Changes in the suitable habitat for V. peregusna under future climate change scenarios were simulated using mid-century (2050s) and the end of the century (2090s) climate scenarios provided by the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6). We evaluated the accuracy of the model to obtain the environmental probability values (cutoff) of the V. peregusna distribution, the current distribution of suitable habitats, and future changes in moderately and highly suitable habitat areas. The results showed that the general linear model (GLM) was the best single model for predicting suitable habitats for V. peregusna, and the kappa coefficient, area under the curve (AUC), and true skill statistic (TSS) of the ensemble model all exceeded 0.9, reflecting greater accuracy and stability than single models. Under the current conditions, the area of suitable habitat for V. peregusna reached 3935.92 × 104 km2, suggesting a wide distribution range. In the future, climate change is predicted to severely affect the distribution of V. peregusna and substantially reduce the area of suitable habitats for the species, with 11.91 to 33.55% of moderately and highly suitable habitat areas no longer suitable for the survival of V. peregusna. This shift poses an extremely serious challenge to the conservation of this species. We suggest that attention be given to this problem in Europe, especially the countries surrounding the Black Sea, Asia, China, and Mongolia, and that measures be taken, such as regular monitoring and designating protected areas for the conservation of vulnerable animals.

Owing to their low minimal environmental risk and other ethical considerations, plant-derived sterilants are used to control rodent populations. However, the effects of plant-derived sterilants are not immediate, and their efficacy on rodent control is controversial, which negatively affects sterilant research and application. Here, a meta-analysis of the available literature was conducted to evaluate the effects of two plant-derived sterilants, triptolide and curcumol, on rodent populations. Using a random-effects and a fixed-effects model, we calculated the weighted mean difference (WMD) and relative risk (RR) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). After the application of plant-derived sterilants, the rodent population density tended to decrease. Three outcome-related measures in rodents, i.e., capture rate (RR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.20, 0.47]), pregnancy rate (RR = 0.49, 95% CI [0.40, 0.61]), and sperm survival rate (WMD = −17.53, 95% CI [−28.96, −6.06]), significantly decreased, as shown by a significant reduction of ovarian, uterine, and testicular organ coefficients. However, the number of effective rodent holes did not change significantly after the interventions, indicating that the studied sterilants did not directly eradicate the rodent populations. This study provides a theoretical basis for elucidating the inhibitory mechanisms of plant-derived sterilants on rodent populations and for the rational use of these sterilants.

Rodents have long plagued forestry production in China, particularly in desert areas in northwestern China, where prevention and monitoring techniques are lacking. Predators are important in regulating rodent populations, and determining how to maximise the role of predators in the comprehensive management of rodent pests is one of the most important issues in rodent control. To accurately understand the activities and vegetation damage patterns of the great gerbil (Rhombomys opimus) in a desert forest area, as well as the activities of its predators, we set up infrared cameras in the Sal Hu Song desert forest region of Altay city, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, in December 2016 and conducted one year of field monitoring of R. opimus and its predators. A total of 2407 independent and valid photographs of R. opimus and its predators were collected. By calculating the relative abundance index, we analysed the activity rhythms of R. opimus and its predators and calculated the correlations of their activity rhythms. The relative abundance of R. opimus was 237.75 in Sal Hu Song, and the predators were mainly the long-legged buzzard (Buteo rufinus) at 94.50, marbled polecat (Vormela peregusna) at 45.74, and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at 44.26. R. opimus is a typical diurnal animal, with activity peaks occurring between 10:00 and 12:00 and between 17:00 and 19:00, and its activities were mainly movement and foraging. Over the year, R. opimus had two peak activity periods, March and September–October. The peak activity periods of V. peregusna were March and September, while the peak activity period of V. vulpes was February–March. The peak activity period of B. rufinus was June. Among these three predators, the activity rhythms of V. peregusna had the highest correlation with those of R. opimus. This study will contribute to monitoring and managing pest animals in these desert areas.