Global review on interactions between insect pests and other forest disturbances

Forest landscapes worldwide are shaped by abiotic drivers such as fire, windstorms, and drought, but also by biotic drivers like insect pests and pathogens. Although the effects of such drivers on forest dynamics have been studied extensively, knowledge of the interactions between insect pests and other drivers of change is still coarse and fragmented. Indeed, new invasive insect species and global change may lead to novel interactions and produce impacts on forest ecosystems never before experienced. We aimed to review the mechanisms underlying interactions between insect pest outbreaks and other forest disturbances, identify interactions emerging from current disturbance dynamics, and highlight the role of simulation models in exploring these interactions in a dynamic, mechanistic, and spatially explicit manner. We reviewed the state of the science regarding interactions between insect pests and other forest disturbances, collecting a set of 216 scientific articles. Most studies focused on the interaction between insect outbreaks and fire, whereas interactions between insect pests and drought, forest management or forest diseases received much less attention. Although we identified some trends in how interactions were manifested, interactions were not more commonly found at particular spatial or temporal scales. Relatively few studies used simulation models to explore interactions between disturbances and very few studies explored multiple interactions. Interactions between pests and other forest disturbances play critical roles in driving forest dynamics. The effects of these interactions are likely to increase in the face of continuing global change.