Ecology of the pest insect jarrah leaf miner (Lepidoptera) in relation to fire and timber harvesting in jarrah forest in Western Australia

Summary During a period of 7 years we undertook 25 investigations of the ecology of jarrah leafminer Perthida glyphopa Common in relation to fire and logging of jarrah Eucalyptus marginata Donn ex Sm. forest. Prescribed low intensity fires in spring or timber harvesting did not consistently favour jarrah leafminer or disfavour parasitization of its mines. Moderate intensity fire in autumn reduced the density of jarrah leafminer for 18 months. We integrate these findings with other relevant ecological and historical knowledge and theorize that scarcity of extensive scorching of codominant crowns in jarrah forest from the mid 1950s may have facilitated the spread of the outbreak. We recommend that more extensive autumn burning should be operationally introduced to both test the theory and subdue outbreaks of jarrah leafminer.

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