Bottom-up factors contribute to large-scale synchrony in spruce budworm populations

Understanding the mechanisms that cause large-scale synchrony in insect population dynamics might yield key insights for predicting potential outbreak occurrence. Here, we evaluated which environmental factors best explain synchronous population fluctuations in the spruce budworm (SBW), a major defoliator of coniferous forests in North-America. SBW population levels were assessed with pheromone traps during the 1986-2014 period across a 625,000 kmThe accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author