[On the causes of mite pest outbreaks in mono- and poly-cultured moso bamboo forests]

In this paper, the damage of phytophagous mites Schizotetranychus nanjingensis Ma & Yuan, Aponychus corpuzae Rimando and Aculus bambusae Kuang to moso bamboo (Phyllostaychs pubescens) was examined for ten pairs of mono- and poly-cultured forests at six locations in Fujian, China. The results showed that the mite damage in mono-cultured forests (35%) was twice as high as that in poly-cultured forests (17.5% < the injury level of 20%), and the difference was significant by t-test. The total pest mites in the mono-cultured forests at six locations in Fujian were 289.29% as high as those in the poly-cultured stands. Typhlodromus bambusae, a nature enemy in the poly-cultured forests at five locations in Fujian, was 262.5% as high as that in the mono-cultured forests. The proportion of pest mite and nature enemy in the mono-cultured forests was 1:118, but was 1:13 in the poly-cultured forests. The change of bamboo cultivation (mono-culture, crowding of bamboo plants, and removal of underfloor plants) might be the major cause of mite pest outbreaks in moso bamboo forests.