Forest disturbance regimes are changing around the globe. Of particular concern are biotic disturbance agents, as they respond strongly to climate warming and invade new ecosystems as alien pests and pathogens. To date, biotic disturbances are either ignored in simulations of vegetation dynamics or only a small number of common agents are considered explicitly. Here we present BITE, a general, process-based approach to simulate biotic forest disturbance agents from fungi to large mammals. BITE considers the processes of agent introduction, dispersal, colonization, population dynamics, and vegetation impact explicitly. Here we parameterize the model for six widely different biotic disturbance agents (Heterobasidion annosum, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, Lymanthia dispar, Anoplophora glabripennis, Capreolus capreolus, Mammut americanum) and evaluate it using pattern-oriented modeling. BITE enables the inclusion of both established and novel biotic disturbance agents in vegetation models, and is a step towards the comprehensive simulation of forest disturbance regimes in a changing world.

森林干扰制度在全球范围内都在变化。特别令人关注的是生物干扰剂，因为它们对气候变暖反应强烈，并作为外来害虫和病原体侵入新的生态系统。迄今为止，在植被动态模拟中忽略了生物干扰，或者明确地只考虑了少数几种共同媒介。在这里，我们介绍BITE，这是一种基于过程的通用方法，可以模拟从真菌到大型哺乳动物的生物森林干扰剂。BITE明确考虑了媒介物引入，扩散，定植，种群动态和植被影响的过程。在这里，我们为六种截然不同的生物干扰剂（异头花甲，雨蛙膜，Lymanthia dispar，Anoplophora glabripennis，Capreolus capreolus，Mammut americanum）并使用面向模式的建模对其进行评估。BITE能够将既有的生物干扰剂和新型的生物干扰剂纳入植被模型，并且是朝着不断变化的世界全面模拟森林干扰状况迈出的一步。