Pest Management in Tropical Forestry

Background

This chapter of the Tropical Forestry Handbook introduces common pests, diseases, and disorders known to afflict tropical tree species. It describes methods of transmission, common symptoms, and provides visual guides on disease identification including infection manifestations in different parts of the tree. The chapter concludes with a discussion on disease management strategies including avoidance, control, and elimination highlighting the environmental factors that play into these strategies.

Conclusions & Takeaways

Diseases in tropical forests are dependent on the interactions between pathogen virulence, host susceptibility, and environmental factors. They can be either systemic, affecting the entire host, or localized, affecting only parts of the host. Diseases are most often caused by fungi, bacteria, or viruses, but can be also caused by nematodes and parasitic plants. The type of disease control strategy is most effective when targeted at the weakest developmental stage of the pathogen, thus, specific knowledge of the pathogen life cycle is invaluable in successful disease management.