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A sampling unit for estimating gall densities of Paradiplosis tumifex (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) in Christmas tree stands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2013

R. Drew Carleton*
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service - Atlantic Forestry Centre, PO Box 4000, 1350 Regent Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5P7, Canada
Peter J. Silk
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service - Atlantic Forestry Centre, PO Box 4000, 1350 Regent Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5P7, Canada
Eldon S. Eveleigh
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service - Atlantic Forestry Centre, PO Box 4000, 1350 Regent Street, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5P7, Canada
Stephen B. Heard
Affiliation:
University of New Brunswick, Department of Biology, PO Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada
Chris Dickie
Affiliation:
InFor Inc., 1350 Regent Street, Strickland Building 2, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3C 2G6, Canada
*
1Corresponding author (e-mail: dcarleton@nrcan.gc.ca).

Abstract

We used field surveys in central New Brunswick, Canada to establish efficient sampling procedures for evaluating densities of balsam gall midge, Paradiplosis tumifex Gagné (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), and its associated damage in balsam fir, Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller, Christmas trees. Infestation was greater in larger trees than smaller trees and in mid-crown and upper-crown branches than in the lower crown. However, the relationship between gallmaker infestation and site, height class, and crown level was highly complex and may involve covariation of shoot length with height class and crown level. As a result, patterns in infestation did not lend themselves to simple interpretation. This complexity highlights the need to find sampling units that provide simpler but reasonably accurate predictors of gallmaker impact at the whole-tree scale. We identified such a sampling unit: gallmaker density in first-order current-year shoots of a mid-crown branch explained 81% of the variance in total infestation among trees.

Résumé

À partir de relevés de terrain menés dans le centre du Nouveau-Brunswick au Canada, nous avons voulu établir une procédure d’échantillonnage permettant d’évaluer efficacement la densité de la cécidomyie du sapin (Paradiplosis tumifex Gagné) (Diptera : Cecidomyiidae) ainsi que les dommages causés par cet insecte au sapin baumier (Abies balsamea (Linnaeus) Miller), l'arbre de Noël. Le taux d'infestation était plus élevé dans les grands arbres par rapport aux petits ainsi que dans les branches médianes et supérieures par rapport aux inférieures. Cependant, la relation existant entre le taux d'infestation et les sites, la classe de hauteur de l'arbre et la hauteur au sein du houppier s'est révélée très complexe et pourrait faire intervenir une covariation de la longueur des pousses avec la classe de hauteur et la hauteur au sein du houppier. Par conséquent, les variations observées dans le taux d'infestation s'expliquent difficilement par une relation simple. Cette complexité souligne la nécessité de trouver des unités d’échantillonnage permettant une prédiction simple, mais relativement exacte de l'impact de la cécidomyie sur l'arbre entier. Nous avons trouvé une telle unité : la densité de cécidomyies dans les pousses de premier ordre apparues au cours de l'année dans une branche médiane du houppier permet d'expliquer 81% de la variance inter-arbres du taux d'infestation total.

Type
Techniques
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2013 

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