Nature Communications · 15 October 2026 · From issue 52
Potential exposure risk of global timber production, carbon stocking, and biodiversity to forest pests
Pest-rich hotspots overlap with valuable timber, carbon storage, and diverse forests worldwide.
Yuxin Qiao, Jianquan Liu et al.
Forest pests gather most heavily in northwestern Europe and eastern North America, and most of these pests are insects. Scientists mapped over 7 million sightings of nearly 1,900 pest species to find this pattern. Small but important parts of the world's forests face high risk. These are places where valuable timber, carbon storage, or many tree types overlap with lots of pests. Stable weather, good rainfall, and heavy timber imports help forests grow well, but they also help pests thrive. Breaking forests into small patches makes them even more vulnerable.
Share of world forest where high pest numbers overlap with valuable timber or carbon storage.
Global mapping study only, no cause-and-effect proof yet.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 16 October 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature Communications). Read the source
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