Editing Winter moth (section)

==Distribution==
It is native to Northern and Central Europe; in the south, its range extends to Northern [[Italy]]; in the east to the [[Caucasus]] and [[Asia Minor]]; in the north to the [[Baltic region|Baltics]]. The genetic populations of the winter moth in Europe are a result of recolonization following the last glacial period.<ref name="Andersen et al. 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Andersen |first1=Jeremy |last2=Havill |first2=Nathan |last3=Caccone |first3=Adalgisa |last4=Elkinton |first4=Joseph |title=Postglacial recolonization shaped the genetic diversity of the winter moth (''Operophtera brumata'') in Europe |journal=Ecology and Evolution |date=2017 |volume=7 |issue=10 |pages=3312–3323 |doi=10.1002/ece3.2860 |pmid=28515868 |pmc=5433974 |bibcode=2017EcoEv...7.3312A }}</ref> As an invasive species, this moth is found in Nova Scotia, coastal New England (Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York) and also the Pacific northwest (including Vancouver Island).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winter moth |url=https://bcinvasives.ca/invasives/winter-moth/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=Invasive Species Council of British Columbia |language=en-US}}</ref> In [[New England]], expansion inland and north appears to be curtailed by cold winter temperatures, so for example, coastal Maine but not inland. Locally milder winters, as part of global climate change, may be allowing expansion of afflicted territory.<ref name=UMass/><ref name=Netherlands/> A study conducted in Massachusetts documented that winter moth defoliation reduced the annual trunk diameter growth rate of oak trees by an average of 47% while not significantly impacting growth rates of the less defoliated maple trees.<ref name=Simmons>{{cite journal |vauthors=Simmons MJ, Lee TD, Ducey MJ, Elkinton JS, Boettner GH, Dodds KJ |title=Effects of Invasive Winter Moth Defoliation on Tree Radial Growth in Eastern Massachusetts, USA |journal=Insects |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=301–18 |year=2014 |pmid=26462685 |pmc=4592589 |doi=10.3390/insects5020301 |doi-access=free }}</ref>