Impact of sawfly defoliation on growth of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris (Pinaceae) and associated economic losses

Needle defoliation by diprionid sawflies decreases the increment and timber yield of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. The aim of this study was to provide approximate estimates of this decrease and preliminary estimates of the economic value of growth losses and tree mortality. Growth loss after needle damage by Diprion pini(Linnaeus) was studied in western Finland. Increment cores were sampled for radial growth measurements from trees subjected to slight, moderate and heavy defoliation. A literature survey was carried out to estimate radial growth losses after defoliation by Neodiprion sertifer (Geoffroy). Calculations for economic consequences were based on previous estimates and on the ongoing 9th Finnish National Forest Inventory. Moderate defoliation by N. sertifer and D. pini reduced volume growth by 21% and 86% and heavy defoliation by 38% and 94%, respectively. Tree mortality in defoliated stands was recorded as approximately 4%after an outbreak of N. sertifer and 30% after an outbreak of D. pini. The estimated average economic value of the losses due to reduced growth and tree mortality reached $40 ha−1 after a single-year outbreak of N. sertifer and $310 ha−1 in the case of D. pini. These preliminary estimates of economic losses indicate a much higher impact of pine sawflies than those revealed by the few earlier studies in Europe.