Purpose of Review

Fire and insects are major disturbances in North American forests. We reviewed literature on the effects of fire on bark beetles, defoliators, and pollinators, as well as on the effects of bark beetle and defoliator epidemics on fuels and wildfires.

Recent Findings

Fire has direct and indirect effects on insects, but our understanding of these effects is confounded by several factors identified in this review. Direct effects are expressed through insect mortality due to exposure to fire, with few studies published on this topic. Indirect effects are expressed through changes in insect hosts and forest conditions, with bark beetle responses to fire-injured trees following prescribed fires and low-severity wildfires being the most studied. Although fire effects on pollinators are an emerging field of research, it is clear that fire can benefit pollinators by creating more open forest conditions, which, in turn, enhance floral resource availability. Bark beetle and defoliator epidemics can exert large effects on fuels, but their effects on wildfires are mixed. Differences in the severity, extent, and timing of epidemics, fire regimes, fire weather, topography, and the metrics and models used to assess wildfires, among other factors, confound our understanding of the effects of bark beetle and defoliator epidemics on wildfires.

Summary

Fire has both positive and negative effects on insects. Bark beetle and defoliator epidemics have positive and negative effects on wildfires. Additional study of these relationships is warranted given the effects of climate change on forests and forest disturbances, recent declines in some pollinator species in North America, and interests in restoring fire-adapted forest ecosystems.

中文翻译：

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北美森林中的火灾和昆虫相互作用

审查目的

火灾和昆虫是北美森林的主要干扰因素。我们回顾了有关火灾对树皮甲虫、落叶虫和传粉昆虫影响的文献，以及树皮甲虫和落叶虫流行对燃料和野火的影响的文献。

最近的发现

火灾对昆虫有直接和间接的影响，但我们对这些影响的理解受到本次审查中确定的几个因素的影响。直接影响表现为昆虫因暴露在火中而死亡，但很少有关于该主题的研究发表。间接影响通过昆虫寄主和森林条件的变化来表达，其中研究最多的是树皮甲虫在规定的火灾和低严重程度的野火后对被火烧伤的树木的反应。尽管火灾对传粉媒介的影响是一个新兴的研究领域，但很明显，火灾可以通过创造更开放的森林条件来使传粉媒介受益，从而提高花卉资源的可用性。树皮甲虫和落叶虫流行病会对燃料产生很大影响，但它们对野火的影响是复杂的。流行病的严重程度、范围和时间、火灾状况、火灾天气、地形以及用于评估野火的指标和模型等因素的差异，混淆了我们对树皮甲虫和落叶虫流行病对野火影响的理解。

概括

火对昆虫既有积极的影响，也有消极的影响。树皮甲虫和落叶虫流行对野火有积极和消极的影响。考虑到气候变化对森林和森林干扰的影响、北美一些传粉媒介物种最近的减少以及恢复适应火灾的森林生态系统的兴趣，有必要对这些关系进行更多研究。