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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北美森林中的火与虫相互作用

审查目的

火灾和昆虫是北美森林的主要干扰。我们回顾了关于火对树皮甲虫、落叶者和传粉者的影响，以及树皮甲虫和落叶者流行病对燃料和野火的影响的文献。

最近的发现

火对昆虫有直接和间接的影响，但我们对这些影响的理解被本综述中确定的几个因素所混淆。直接影响通过暴露于火中的昆虫死亡率来表达，很少有关于该主题的研究发表。间接影响通过昆虫宿主和森林条件的变化来表达，在规定的火灾和低严重性野火之后，树皮甲虫对火灾受伤的树木的反应是研究最多的。尽管火对传粉媒介的影响是一个新兴的研究领域，但很明显，火可以通过创造更开阔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可以对燃料产生很大影响，但它们对野火的影响是混合的。严重程度、程度的差异，

概括

火对昆虫有正面和负面的影响。树皮甲虫和落叶虫流行病对野火有积极和消极的影响。鉴于气候变化对森林和森林干扰的影响、近期北美某些传粉媒介物种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进一步研究。