Limiting the impact of insect pests on urban trees under climate change

Insect herbivore pests have been identified as a significant threat to the health and survival of urban trees. In the future, these pest-tree interactions in urban areas may be altered by the increased variability in environmental conditions projected under climate change. However, our understanding of how this may occur is limited. In this short communication, we discuss the factors that increase urban forest vulnerability to insect pests and how climate change will alter these factors. We then discuss how we can help to reduce the negative effects of these factors through actions such as diversifying our urban forests, reducing plant stress and increasing our capacity for early detection of insect pests using emerging biosurveillance technologies. In a time with increasing globalisation aiding in the transport of pests between urban areas, it is important that we remain vigilant to the ever-increasing threats that can compromise our urban green assets and the benefits they provide.