Forest and Urban Tree Pathology and Entomology: Diagnosis, Biology, Ecology and Control

Dear Colleagues

Forests and urban trees provide essential ecosystem services and contribute to human health, the economy, and society. However, with an increase in global trade and climate change, trees in urban environments and natural and planted forests are at risk from the resurgence of native species and the introduction of invasive insects and pathogens. A crucial first step towards effective forest management is the early detection of pest and disease attacks, which has been made easier in recent years by the development of molecular (e.g., multigene phylogenies, LAMP, and qPCR) and AI-powered pest and disease detection systems (e.g., remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, and machine learning). However, a greater understanding of the mechanisms driving the emergence of native and the invasion of non-native insects and pathogens is also required in order to provide environmentally acceptable and long-lasting control methods. The ability of trees to deliver ecosystem services is impacted by forest pests and diseases; thus, forest and urban tree pathology and entomology are more important than ever in preserving the resilience and diversity of forest and urban ecosystems. A wide range of studies, including those on population biology, epidemiology, ecology, defense mechanisms of plants against pathogen infection and insect infestation, early detection and identification of insects and pathogens, integrated pest management, including novel technologies for the management of insect pests and diseases (e.g., RNAi biopesticides), and much more, are the focus of this Special Issue.  

Dr. Milica Zlatkovic
Dr. Roman Modlinger
Guest Editors

Dr. Jovan Dobrosavljević
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• forest and urban tree pathology and entomology
• plant–pathogen interactions
• plant–insect interactions
• integrated pest management