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Relationship between an exotic phloem feeder and balsam fir (Abies balsamea L. (Mill.)) foliar chemistry: implications for two native defoliators

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Abstract

The balsam woolly adelgid (Adelges piceae) is a gout-inducing hemipteran native to the silver fir forests of Europe. Introduced to eastern North America approximately 100 years ago, it is now found in most balsam fir forests in Atlantic Canada. When A. piceae feed, they trigger a reaction in the host branch that alters both xylem and phloem morphology. We conducted a field survey to examine the relationship between A. piceae gout density and balsam fir foliar chemistry and shoot growth in naturally unthinned and precommercially thinned stands. A. piceae gout density negatively affected branch growth and was related to changes in the chemistry of older, but not current-year foliage. Older foliage experienced decreases in camphene and bornyl acetate, while foliar concentrations of camphene, myrcene, phenolics, potassium and water differed between thinned and unthinned stands. Foliar chemistry was also influenced by interactions between thinning and A. piceae gout density in old foliage. This study suggests that changes in balsam fir associated with A. piceae gout density may force native defoliators that feed in highly gouted trees to adapt to diets of different chemical compositions and that thinning may alter these interactions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Brown, B. Butler, C. Butt, N. Drummond, M-P. Godine, N. Grégoire, B. Organ, T. Rideout, K. Strath, C. Travers, E. Wheeler and S. Wilcox for assistance in the field and laboratory; M. Charest, P. Huron, N. Giasson and L. Seehausen for assistance conducting chemical analyses; A. Morison and G. Butt for assistance locating sites; G. Moreau, S. Heard and L. Jesson for statistical advice; Corner Brook Pulp and Paper for access to sites; and Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, and Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Natural Resources for the use of facilities and resources. Financial support was provided to the iFor Research Consortium by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC-CRSNG), the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec (MRNFQ), the Conseil de l’Industrie Forestière du Québec (CIFQ), the Canadian Forest Service and the Société de Protection des Forêts contre les Insectes et les Maladies du Québec (SOPFIM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Ecology Group, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, E3B 6C2, Canada

    Dorthea M. Grégoire & Dan T. Quiring

  2. Canadian Forest Service – Laurentian Forestry Center, Natural Resources Canada, Québec, Québec, G1V 4C7, Canada

    Lucie Royer

  3. Centre de Recherche en Biologie Forestière, Université Laval, Sainte-Foy, Québec, G1K 7P4, Canada

    Éric Bauce

Authors
  1. Dorthea M. Grégoire
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  2. Dan T. Quiring
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  3. Lucie Royer
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  4. Éric Bauce
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Correspondence to Dorthea M. Grégoire.

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Communicated by Anna-Karin Borg-Karlson.

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Grégoire, D.M., Quiring, D.T., Royer, L. et al. Relationship between an exotic phloem feeder and balsam fir (Abies balsamea L. (Mill.)) foliar chemistry: implications for two native defoliators. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 8, 361–371 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-014-9317-0

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