Effet du changement climatique et de la phénologie de l’arbre hôte sur l’étendue spatiale des épidémies de la tordeuse des bourgeons de l’épinette : une approche à base d’agents
Climate change continues to affect forest landscape dynamics at a global scale. However, it remains uncertain how these changes will affect future forests and in particular outbreaks of forest insect pests. Climate change can affect outbreaking insects by disrupting phenological synchrony between herbivorous insects and their host trees. Such disruptions can have important consequences for outbreak timing, extent, and severity. This study aims to understand how climate change could affect the phenological synchrony between the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana), a native outbreaking defoliator, and its host trees (Abies balsamea and Picea mariana), and how this might affect the extent of spruce budworm outbreaks in the Côte-Nord region in Quebec, Canada. We explored the effects of two experimental factors on outbreak extent using a spatially explicit stochastic agent-based simulation model (ABM): (1) daily temperature represented as two levels of increase (+2°C and +4 °C) relative to a 2016 baseline, and (2) variation in host phenology represented as four different levels of uncertainty (SD) around the timing of budburst. We assessed how these factors affected variation in spruce budworm outbreak extent and outbreak patch spatial complexity over a 20-year simulation horizon. Our simulation results indicate that host trees-insect phenological synchrony is strongly affected by temperature changes, but in a non-linear way. An increase of 2°C was found to reduce outbreak extent due to poor larval survival, while an increase of 4°C resulted in higher insect survival and larger outbreaks. Our model can help to forecast future forest dynamics and facilitate the development of better management strategies to reduce the effect of outbreaks on forest landscapes.
Choristoneura fumiferana Abies balsamea Picea mariana Complex systems Agent-based modelling Climate change Phenological synchrony Phenology