"Visit" the forest to protect the green mountains

In the Kuduer forest area of Daxing'anling in Inner Mongolia in May, the grass and trees spit green, and everything recovered. But in the eyes of the "forest doctor" of the forest defense station of the Kudur Forestry Bureau, they are not concerned about the beautiful scenery, but the forest diseases and insect pests, and every time they give the forest a "visit", just to protect the green mountains.

How do they "wrestle wits" with insect pests? With doubts, recently, the author followed the technicians of the forest defense station to find out. The first stop is the pine gall moth monitoring point located in the original forest 71 forest class, once in the spot, the author can't help but wonder, why some larch is covered in a white mesh cover? Technician Song Xiaoyong explained: "This is called 'cage', which is designed by ourselves to monitor and capture the small roll moth of pine gall, which is equivalent to 'wild breeding'. The operation is also very simple, the young trees that are infested by insects are covered up, the upper and lower ends are tied with ropes, and the middle is breathable and transparent, which does not affect the growth of trees and the evolution of insects. ”

Song Xiaoyong introduced that they are carrying out a demonstration project for the promotion of forestry science and technology in the central financial "Research on the Integrated Control Technology of the Pine Gall Moth", which summarizes a set of the most effective integrated control technology by understanding and mastering the biological characteristics of the Pine Gall Moth. The difficulty lies in the small size of the loose gall moth, which is not easy to trap, and the survival rate of indoor rearing is low. This "cage" is specially tailored for the pine gall moth, and it is necessary to check it from time to time to prevent loose and broken places. Now is the period when the pine gall moth evolves from larva to pupae, and in more than a month, the adult will burrow out of the trunk, and what awaits it is a "cage" that cannot fly out.

The hiding place of the larvae of the pine gall moth is very hidden, but it is also difficult to escape a pair of "sharp eyes" of the "forest doctor", who can be judged by observing whether there is lipid and gall-like expansion at the base of the nascent branches on the main stem and trunk of the larch. Song Xiaoyong broke a branch from the lipid flow, and sure enough, he found a yellow larvae that was eating with relish.

"Don't look at it as small, the harm is particularly large, feeding on the young branches of the young larch tree, once the young tree has been violated, it loses the opportunity to grow into a tree." Song Xiaoyong's words were tinged with regret. Li Shuangxi, a colleague next to him, sighed: "The growth experience of a tree is too bumpy, and it is forbidden to be 'tested' by various insect pests." In addition to the pine gall moth, there are also larch sheath moths and pine caterpillars are natural enemies of larch! ”

This year, in the list of key pest control in the forest defense station, the larch caterpillar "ranked first". As early as late April, technicians began to set up standard sites, sample trees, and continuously monitor the trees of pine caterpillar larvae using the "plastic sheet binding ring method".

We came to the larch caterpillar monitoring point of the original forest 90 forest class, and from a distance, the tall pine forest shaded the sky, the trees were about 30 years old, and a cluster of newborn pine needles stretched out in the branches, emitting a burst of pine fragrance, which is the favorite food of pine caterpillars. Looking closer, there was a pine caterpillar that was climbing a tree, wanting to "eat a full meal" at the branch, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the "plastic ring" set up. Technician Sun Yingfang took off the pine caterpillar and put it in the palm of her hand, introducing its characteristics to the author: "As soon as you touch it, you curl up, this is self-protection 'pretending to die'!" We can also use its 'suspended death' to record the number of trees and the rate of insect plants using the shock fall method, and make timely and accurate predictions of the occurrence trend. ”

According to their monitoring and investigation in recent times, the damage of pine caterpillars in this forest is more serious, and all the branches that pine caterpillars have eaten, the pine needles "do not leave a piece of armor", once the insect infestation breaks out, it will make the pine tree unable to photosynthesis and cause death. They will choose the best time and measures to control the spread of pine caterpillars.

In order to ensure that the "right medicine" is "prescribed", the "forest doctor" must have a deep understanding of the biological characteristics of each forest disease and insect pest, and make specimens of insect states at various stages through trapping or breeding in the wild, which takes a year or even many years. Sun Yingfang has successfully produced a complete life history of larch caterpillars, from being daunted to catching insects with bare hands to being accompanied by insects, perhaps this is how the "forest defense female warrior" is trained.

Just as the so-called "know thyself and know the other, in order to win every battle", although the forest will stage a "human-insect war" every year, but elimination is not the ultimate goal. "If the insect pests are completely eliminated, the biological chain will be destroyed, and it will ensure that there are insects that do not become disasters, respect the laws of nature, and maintain ecological balance, which is the premise and foundation for the prevention and control of forest diseases and insect pests." In the words of Xue Qi, deputy station chief of the Forest Defense Station.

In the 502,000-hectare ecological functional area of the Kudur Forestry Bureau, there are 1.18 million mu of plantation forests that have been preserved for 67 years and have been intact so far, which is not easy to grow into timber, and it is even more difficult to become a forest. It is precisely by relying on a pair of diligent feet that this group of "forest doctors" has walked through every corner of the forest and relied on a pair of dexterous hands to monitor and prevent more than 20 kinds of forest diseases and insect pests such as pine gall moths, pine caterpillars, and rat pests; relying on the experience and wisdom accumulated over the years, they have won one "forest fire without gunpowder smoke", and also let the "woodpecker spirit" of "eliminating harm, dedication, virtue, and seeking truth" bloom everywhere in the Xing'an Forest Sea, and inherit endlessly... (Chen Xiaolin, Li Chunhong)