Forest health

Introduction

What is forest health?

Forest health is a term used to describe the condition of a forest and how well it is able to meet
management objectives. From a forestry perspective, management objectives focus on the health of the
trees. Forest health can also indicate the condition of the overall global environment.

How do we know if a forest is healthy?

A healthy forest is able to sustain itself ecologically while providing for society’s economic,
social, recreational and spiritual needs and values. To determine if a forest is healthy, measures must be
taken with a particular set of perspectives in mind. A hiker might measure the health of a forest by the
green scenery; a birdwatcher might measure the number of bird species present. Overall, the health of
the forest may be measured against many variables: the health of trees, the amount and type of wildlife
within the forest, and the amount of biodiversity.

Common factors affecting forest health:

1. Insects and Mites

2. Disease-causing Organisms

3. Disorders

4. Mammals and Birds

5. Exotic Pests and Invasive Plants

The forest Insects
There are many species of insect in the forest, but not all of these are pest. Many of them are
beneficial to the forest community. Some of this species serves as predators to other insect pest to
control pest population, while the others are pollinators to the flowering forest species.

The insect

Insects or Insecta (from Latin insectum) are hexapod (six legs) invertebrates and the largest
group within the arthropod phylum Definitions and circumscriptions vary; usually, insects comprise a
class within the Arthropoda (animals with jointed legs).

Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of
jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals;
they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living
organisms

Insects -over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects.

Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the
oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans.

Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton and development involves a series of molts.

Moulting can involve shedding the epidermis (skin), pelage (hair, feathers, fur, wool), or other external
layer. In some groups, other body parts may be shed, for example, wings in some insects or the entire
exoskeleton in arthropods.

Immature stages of an insect often differ from the adults in structure, habit and habitat, and
can include a passive pupal stage in those groups that undergo four-stage metamorphosis. Insects that
undergo three-stage metamorphosis lack a pupal stage and adults develop through a series of nymphal
stages.

Four-Stage Metamorphosis
HOLOMETABOLISM, also called complete metamorphosis, is a form of insect development
which includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and imago or adult. Immature stages of holometabolous
insects are very different from the mature stage. The morphology and behavior of each stage are
adapted for different activities. For example, larval traits maximize feeding, growth, and development,
while adult traits enable dispersal, mating, and egg laying. Some species of holometabolous insects
protect and feed their offspring.
 The Three-Stage Metamorphosis
HEMIMETABOLISM or hemimetaboly, also called incomplete metamorphosis and
paurometabolism, is the mode of development of certain insects that includes three distinct stages: the
egg, nymph, and the adult stage, or imago. These groups go through gradual changes; there is no pupal
stage. The nymph often has a thin exoskeleton and resembles the adult stage but lacks wings and
functional reproductive organs

AMETABOLISM is a type of growth or life cycle in insects in which there is slight or no

metamorphosis, only a gradual increase in size. It is present only in primitive wingless insects, (very rare
kind of insect)

Adult insects typically move about by walking, flying, or sometimes swimming. As it allows for
rapid yet stable movement, many insects adopt a tripedal gait in which they walk with their legs
touching the ground in alternating triangles, composed of the front and rear on one side with the middle
on the other side. Insects are the only invertebrates to have evolved flight, and all flying insects derive
from one common ancestor.

Insects As Pest
Pest- any organisms that competes human benefits
Humans regard certain insects as pests, and attempt to control them using insecticides, and a host of
other techniques.

Some insects damage crops and forest trees by feeding on sap, leaves, fruits, or wood.

Some species are parasitic to animals, and may vector diseases. Some insects perform complex
ecological roles; blow-flies (Lagong), for example, help consume carrion (dead animals) but also spread
diseases.

Insect pollinators are essential to the life cycle of many flowering plant species in forest and
farms on which most organisms, including humans, are at least partly dependent; without them, the
terrestrial portion of the biosphere would be devastated. Many insects are considered ecologically
beneficial as predators and a few provide direct economic benefit. Silkworms produce silk and honey
bees produce honey and both have been domesticated by humans. Insects are consumed as food in 80%
of the world's nations, by people in roughly 3000 ethnic groups.
 INSECT TAXONOMY AND MORPHOLOGY

The animal kingdom is divided in a number of groups called "phyla" (singular: phylum). Examples of
phyla are:

Protozoa (single-celled animals)

Porifera (sponges)

Nemathelminthes (roundworms)

Mollusca (mollusks, snails, etc.)

Arthropoda (crayfish, millipedes, centipedes, spiders and insects)

Chordata, (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals)

Each phylum is subdivided in classes, for example the class Hexapoda (= insects). Classes are
subdivided into orders, for example the order Coleoptera (= beetles). Orders are divided into families,
families into genera (singular: genus), and genera are divided into species.Within the class Hexapoda
there are over 750,000 different species of insects.

The scientific name of a species is always a double name (the genus name, and a specific name).
It should be written with a capital letter in the genus name and either in italics or underlined.

An example of the classification of an insect:

Kingdom — Animal

Phylum — Arthropoda

Class — Hexapoda (= insects)

Order — Lepidoptera (= butterflies and moths)

The phylum Arthropoda
Some characteristics of the Arthropoda are:

They have a so called exoskeleton. They do not have bones, but the hard outer covering supports the
muscles.

The appendages are jointed.

The body is formed of a number of segments.

Characteristics of the class Hexapoda (Insects)

Some characteristics of insects are:
Body:

The body is divided into three distinct regions: head, thorax and abdomen

Head:

One pair of antennae.

The antennae are usually used as tactile organs (= organs pertaining to the sense of touch) or as
olfactory organs (= organs of smell).

Eyes:

Most insects possess one pair of compound eyes and sometimes some simple eyes called "ocelli".

Mouthparts.

There is a big variety in types of mouthparts; biting, sucking, licking, etc.

Thorax:
Three pairs of legs.

The thorax has three segments. These are called pro-thorax, meso-thorax and meta-thorax. Each
segment has one pair of legs. The different parts of the leg are called coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and
tarsus.

Note: some insects are legless, or have fewer than 6 legs. Some larvae have leg-like appendages on the
abdomen.

Often one or two pairs of wings.

The wings are borne by the second and/or third of the thoracic segments.

Note: Some insects are wingless.

Abdomen:

The gonopore (genital opening) is at the posterior end of the abdomen.

No appendages used for moving on the abdomen of adults (except in a few primitive insects).

Sometimes there are some appendages at the end of the abdomen.

Classification of Hexapoda (Insects)

The class hexapoda is divided in two subclasses:

1. Apterygota (= primitive wingless insects)

2. Pterygota (= winged and secondarily wingless insects)

The subclass Pterygota is divided in two divisions:

1. Exopterygota (= insects with a simple metamorphosis, without pupal stage)

2. Endopterygota (= with a complete metamorphosis, including a pupal stage)

Metamorphosis
After hatching from the egg, an insect grows by a series of molts. After shedding the old skin
they expand into a new larger one. This molting continues until the adult stage is reached. At each molt,
some externally visible changes occur. This type of growing is called metamorphosis. The division of
insects into apterygota, exopterygota and endopterygota is mainly based on differences in the type of
metamorphosis.

The apterygota have no metamorphosis. Except for the size, all larval stages closely resemble the adults
(which are wingless).

The exopterygota undergo a simple metamorphosis. In molting from egg, via the nymphal
stages to an adult, there is a gradual change in the external appearance. The late nymphal stages
already show the development of wing pads. But only in the last molt functional wings are developed.
The nymphs usually have the same feeding habits as the adults.

In the endopterygota there is a complete metamorphosis. In these insects the external (and
internal) changes during the life history are the greatest. The eggs hatch into larvae which feed actively
during the different instars. The larvae may or may not have legs. The development of wings is not
visible during the larval stages. After several molts a pupa is formed. A pupa is an inactive stage, it does
not feed and it does not move. Sometimes the pupa is protected by a cocoon of silk, or it is found in an
earthen cell in the soil. During this pupal stage big changes take place internally. After the pupal stage, a
highly active winged adult appears. Often, the larvae and the adults live in different types of habitat and
use different types of food.

Orders of insects

Orders marked with a (*) are important because they contain some agricultural pests.

Apterygota

Order Thysanura Bristletails

Order Diplura Diplurans (Two-pronged

Bristletails)

Order Protura Proturans

Order Collembola Springtails

Exopterbygota

Order Ephemeroptera Mayflies Order Odonata Dragonflies and Damselflies

Order Orthoptera * Grasshoppers, Locusts and Crickets

Order Dictyoptera Cockroaches and Mantids

Order Grylloblattodea Rock crawlers

Order Phasmida Stick insects and Leaf insects

Order Dermaptera Earwigs

Order Isoptera * Termites

Order Embioptera Web-spinners

Order Plecoptera Stoneflies

Order Zoraptera Zorapterans

Order Psocoptera Psocopterans (Psocids, Booklice)

Order Mallophaga Chewing lice (Biting lice)

Order Anoplura

(= Siphunculata) Sucking lice

Order Thysanoptera * Thrips

Order Hemiptera

suborder Heteroptera * Bugs

suborder Homoptera * Cicadas, Hoppers, Psyllids, Whiteflies, Aphids, and Scale insects

Endopterygota

Order Neuroptera Alderflies, Dobsonflies, Fishflies, Snakeflies, Lacewings, Antlions, and Owlflies

Order Coleoptera * Beetles

Order Strepsiptera Twisted-winged parasites (Stylopids)

Order Mecoptera Scorpionflies

Order Trichoptera Caddisflies

Order Lepidoptera * Butterflies and Moths

Order Diptera * True Flies

Order Siphonaptera Fleas

Order Hymenoptera * Sawflies, Ichneumons, Chalcids, Ants, Wasps, and Bees