Best Practice Knowledge Base
7.2 Pest and disease control
Chestnut stand affected by disease. Montseny, Spain. © Hernán Serrano-León
Pest and disease control is essential to maintain ecosystem health, promote biodiversity, and ensure the sustainability of restored forests, especially in the context of climate change and pest and disease outbreak intensification. An adequate management of pests and diseases prevents the decline of tree populations, supports the recovery of native species, and enhances the resilience of forests to other environmental stressors. Implementing integrated pest management strategies, such as monitoring, biological control, and selective removal of infected trees, helps mitigate the spread of pests and diseases and sets the basis for successful forest restoration.
I. Guidelines
| Nº | Title | Author | Year | Focus Region | Language | Summary | Link |
| 1 | Living with bark beetles: impacts, outlook and management options | Hlásny et al. - European Forest Institute | 2019 | Europe | English | Impacts of the intensifying bark beetle outbreaks in Europe and management options. | https://doi.org/10.36333/fs08 |
| 2 | Guía de la gestión integrada de plagas: Coníferas | Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Gobierno de España | 2021 | Spain | Spanish | Comprehensive guide for the management of pests in conifer stands | https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/agricultura/temas/sanidad-vegetal/coniferas_web_metadatos_protegida_tcm30-582459.pdf |
| 3 | Guía de la gestión integrada de plagas: Frondosas | Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Gobierno de España | 2017 | Spain | Spanish | Comprehensive guide for the management of pests in broadleaved stands | https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/agricultura/temas/sanidad-vegetal/guiafrondosasweb_tcm30-379936.pdf |
| 4 | Guía de la gestión integrada de plagas: Quercus | Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Gobierno de España | 2016 | Spain | Spanish | Comprehensive guide for the management of pests in oak stands | https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/agricultura/temas/sanidad-vegetal/guiagipquercusweb_tcm30-57977.pdf |
| 5 | Management guide for Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) | Pederson & Munson - US Forest Service | 2010 | North America | English | Concise guide about the history, ecology and management approaches of the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar) in North America. | https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5187452.pdf |
| 6 | Handbook of the major forest pests in Southeast Europe | Lakatos et al. - FAO | 2014 | Southeast Europe | English | Handbook with many forest pests and diseases information from Southeast Europe, and control measures | https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/ea267264-f51c-4883-9a72-69cb95e3c55e/content |
| 7 | Ecological impacts of ash dieback and mitigation methods | Broome & Mitchell - Forestry Comission | 2017 | United Kingdom | English | Handbook on ash dieback and its ecological impacts, followed by some guidelines on management and mitigation. | https://cdn.forestresearch.gov.uk/2022/02/fcrn029_47ft2pu.pdf |
II. Books or book chapters
| Nº | Title | Author | Chapter | Chapter author | Year | Focus region | Language | Summary | Link |
| 1 | Ecological Methods in Forest Pest Management | Wainhouse | - | - | 2005 | North America, Temperate | English | Focuses predominantly on insect pests, but many examples relate to fungal pathogens, some of which are vectored by forest insects. | https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198505648.001.0001 |
| 2 | Encyclopedia of Pest Management | Pimentel | - | - | 2002 | United States | English | Explores effective, economical, and environmentally compatible pest management systems. | https://doi.org/10.1201/NOE0824706326 |
| 3 | Diseases of Forest Trees and Their Management | Parthasarathy et al. | Chapters 1-6 | - | 2021 | India | English | Comprehensive introduction to forest pathology management | https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003173861 |
| 4 | Bark Beetle Management, Ecology, and Climate Change | Gandhi & Hofstetter | Management tactics to reduce bark beetle impacts in North America and Europe under altered forest and climatic conditions | Fetigg et al. | 2022 | North America & Europe | English | Review of the ecology and management of bark beetles in conifer-dominated forests in North America and Europe, with 6 case studies. | https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822145-7.00006-4 |
| 5 | Plantation silviculture in Europe | Savill et al. | Protecting plantations from wildlife, pests and pathogens | - | 1997 | Europe | English | Principles for management of pests and pathogens, among others | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/plantation-silviculture-in-europe-9780198549086?cc=us&lang=en&# |
| 6 | Pests | West | Pests | - | 2014 | World | English | Principles of pest management, with some practical examples | https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-01827-0 |
| 7 | Forest Microbiology. Volume 2 : Forest Tree Health | Asiegbu & Kovalchuk | Chapter 23: Forest tree disease control and management | Kasanen et al. | 2022 | World | English | Discussion of various pest management approaches. | https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85042-1.00023-9 |
| 8 | Biotechnological Approaches for Sustaining Forest Trees and Their Products | Thomas et al. | Diseases of Important Forest Tree Species and Their Management Using Eco-Friendly Approaches | Bhatnagar et al. | 2024 | World | English | Discussion of eco-friendly practices fro pest management | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4363-6_12 |
| 9 | Plantation silviculture in Europe | Savill et al. | Protecting plantations from damage by wildfire, pests, and pathogens | - | 1997 | Europe | English | Practical considerations for managing risk factors in plantation silviculture | https://global.oup.com/academic/product/plantation-silviculture-in-europe-9780198549086?cc=us&lang=en&# |
III. Scientific articles
| Nº | Title | Author | Year | Focus region | Language | Type | Summary | Link |
| 1 | Long-term biodiversity trajectories for pest-managed ecological restorations: eradication vs. suppression | Binny et al. | 2022 | World | English | Meta-analysis | The study aims to provide new evidence that invasive pest control is effective in ecological restoration | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1439 |
| 2 | Impact of Stand and Landscape Management on Forest Pest Damage | Marini et al. | 2022 | Europe | English | Narrative review | Review of the management tools to increase resiliency to biotic disturbances at the stand and landscape levels. | https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-062321-065511 |
| 3 | Forest restoration as a double-edged sword: the conflict between biodiversity conservation and pest control | Kärvemo et al. | 2017 | Boreal | English | Experiment | Studies the conflict between forest restoration for biodiversity and tree mortality risk by pests in boreal Europe | https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12905 |
| 4 | Understanding bark beetle outbreaks: exploring the impact of changing temperature regimes, droughts, forest structure, and prospects for future forest pest management. | Singh et al. | 2024 | Eurasian boreal | English | Narrative review | Challenges of bark beetle pests with climate change, and managing opportunities to improve forest health | https://doi.org/10.1007/s11157-024-09692-5 |
| 5 | Bark Beetle Outbreaks in Europe: State of Knowledge and Ways Forward for Management | Hlásny et al. | 2021 | Europe | English | Narrative review | Synthesis of the state of knowledge on drivers and impacts of bark beetle outbreaks in Europe and suggestions for their management | https://doi.org/10.1007/s40725-021-00142-x |
| 6 | Mitigating pest and pathogen impacts using resistant trees: a framework and overview to inform development and deployment in Europe and North America | Woodcock et al. | 2018 | Europe, North America | English | Conceptual framework | Proposal of a framework to identify pest-resistant trees | https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpx031 |
| 7 | Tree Diversity and Forest Resistance to Insect Pests: Patterns, Mechanisms, and Prospects | Jactel et al. | 2021 | Europe | English | Systematic review | Quantitative assessment of tree diversity effects on insect herbivory and its possible mechanisms | https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-041720-075234 |