Entomopathogenic Fungi as an Important Natural Regulator of Insect Outbreaks in Forests (Review)

Abstract

The common idea for many people is that forests are just a collection of trees. However, they are much more than that. They are a complex, functional system of interacting and often interdependent biological, physical, and chemical components, the biological part of which has evolved to perpetuate itself. This complexity produces combinations of climate, soils, trees and plant species unique to each site, resulting in hundreds of different forest types around the world. Logically, trees are an important component for the research in forest ecosystems, but the wide variety of other life forms and abiotic components in most forests means that other elements, such as wildlife or soil nutrients, should also be the focal point in ecological studies and management plans to be carried out in forest ecosystems. In this book, the readers can find the latest research related to forest ecosystems but with a different twist. The research described here is not just on trees and is focused on the other components, structures and functions that are usually overshadowed by the focus on trees, but are equally important to maintain the diversity, function and services provided by forests. The first section of this book explores the structure and biodiversity of forest ecosystems, whereas the second section reviews the research done on ecosystem structure and functioning. The third and last section explores the issues related to forest management as an ecosystem-level activity, all of them from the perspective of the �other� parts of a forest.

Coleopteran and Lepidopteran Hosts of the Entomopathogenic Genus Cordyceps sensu lato

“…The entomopathogenic fungi mainly belong to two diverse groups within kingdom Fungi, Entomophthorales (Phylum Entomophthoromyota, formerly Zygomycota) and Hypocreales (Phylum Ascomycota). These fungi are distributed in wide terrestrial ecosystems of the world including Arctic Circle and Antarctica [5]. Entomophthoralean pathogens generally show narrow host range and are distributed in temperate forests [6] with rare reports from tropical regions [7].…”

Hypocrealean Fungi Associated with Hylobius abietis in Slovakia, Their Virulence against Weevil Adults and Effect on Feeding Damage in Laboratory

“…EPF are important natural control agents of insects and have been a subject of an intense study since the end of the nineteenth century. More than 700 fungal species in 100 orders are estimated [43]. A great majority of perspective fungi for mass production and use in biocontrol are those from the Hypocreales (Ascomycota) order [38].…”

“…There has been an extensive research on the use of fungal entomopathogens as perspective biocontrol agents of insect pests in agriculture and forestry [38], and some strains have been successfully licensed and commercialised [39,40]. These fungi are considered to be environmentally safe [41], can be mass-produced [42], and show a considerable potential to control various forest insect pests [43]. In Europe, several reports have focused on the occurrence of EPF in H. abietis populations, and species of Beauveria and Metarhizium genera have been reported from larvae and adults.…”

Next-generation sequencing to investigate existing and new insect associations with phytopathogenic fungal propagules

“…As a matter of fact, beneficial fungal endophytes have been studied for their ability to help plant's defenses [125]. For example, Beauveria bassiana infection has reduced populations of emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) [126,127]. The gut-associated species detected (Candida michaelii [handsome fungus beetle]) demonstrated the robustness of our metagenomics approach in studying fungus-insect relationships regardless of the niche they occupy.…”