Balancing risks of disturbance from mountain pine beetle and western spruce budworm

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 839-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.G. Nealis ◽  
M.K. Noseworthy ◽  
R. Turnquist ◽  
V.R. Waring

The effect of removing lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta Dougl. ex Loud.) and retaining Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) to reduce the risk of disturbance from mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk.) in mixed conifer stands in southern British Columbia, Canada, on population processes influencing outbreaks of western spruce budworm ( Choristoneura occidentalis Free.) was evaluated in 10 paired (open vs. closed) field plots. Overall feeding damage to Douglas-fir was significantly, but only slightly, lower in open stands compared with closed stands. Although open plots tended to recruit more budworms, the losses resulting from the dispersal of spring-emerging budworms in search of feeding sites were significantly greater in open plots. The forest management benefits of these early season losses were mitigated, however, by more mortality of budworms from natural enemies, particularly diseases, in the closed plots during the budworm feeding period. These results are discussed in terms of compensating population processes and balancing objectives in forest pest management. In this case, selective harvesting of lodgepole pine as a mitigation strategy for the mountain pine beetle conserved the midterm timber supply potential represented by associated Douglas-fir even in the presence of an outbreak of the western spruce budworm.

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2403-2412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Kashian ◽  
Rebecca M. Jackson ◽  
Heather D. Lyons

Extensive outbreaks of the mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) will alter the structure of many stands that will likely be attacked again before experiencing a stand-replacing fire. We examined a stand of lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson) in Grand Teton National Park currently experiencing a moderate-level outbreak and previously attacked by mountain pine beetle in the 1960s. Consistent with published studies, tree diameter was the main predictor of beetle attack on a given tree, large trees were preferentially attacked, and tree vigor, age, and cone production were unimportant variables for beetle attack at epidemic levels. Small trees killed in the stand were killed based mainly on their proximity to large trees and were likely spatially aggregated with large trees as a result of the previous outbreak. We concluded that the driving factors of beetle attack and their spatial patterns are consistent across outbreak severities but that stand structure altered by the previous outbreak had implications for the current outbreaks in the same location. This study should catalyze additional research that examines how beetle-altered stand structure affects future outbreaks — an important priority for predicting their impacts under climate change scenarios that project increases in outbreak frequency and extent.


1989 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 521-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Stock ◽  
R.A. Gorley

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk., causes extensive mortality of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm., throughout western North America (Van Sickle 1982). The Prince Rupert Forest Region, in the northwest of British Columbia, initiated an aggressive beetle management program in 1981. Logging of infested stands, and winter felling and burning of individual infested trees are the most common direct control techniques.The “Bristol Lake” infestation developed in the Bulkley Forest District, approximately 55 km northwest of Smithers, B.C., on a steep rocky ridge within the valley of Harold Price Creek. The area contained large volumes of mature lodgepole pine, and control of the infestation was therefore considered critical to the local beetle management plan, but the size (50 ha) and rough topography of the infested area precluded normal direct control measures.


Author(s):  
W. Romme ◽  
J. Yavitt ◽  
D. Knight

A research project was initiated in 1980 to study the effects of outbreaks of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) on lodgepole pine forest (Pinus contorta Dougl. ssp. latifolia) in Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas. This native insect apparently has long been associated with lodgepole pine, and reports of small numbers of beetles can be found in Park records as early as 1925. However, in the late 1940's and early 1950's major outbreaks began to occur on the Caribou and Targhee National Forests immediately to the west and southwest of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. An outbreak in Grand Teton National Park and the adjacent Teton National Forest began in the 1950's, with an explosive increase in 1961 followed by an eventual subsidence in the late 1960's. The first major outbreak in Yellowstone National Park began in the late 1960's in the Bechler and South Entrance areas, reaching a peak there in 1970 and later declining. Yearly aerial surveys conducted thereafter showed a steady northward movement of the outbreak through the western half of the Park at a rate of 1 - 5 km per year. By 1978 the peak outbreak was centered around West Yellowstone, with hundreds of infested trees per hectare. The outbreak is now moving north and east along the Madison and Gibbon Rivers, with the greatest beetle populations currently in the vicinity of Madison Junction.


1985 ◽  
Vol 117 (11) ◽  
pp. 1445-1446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Richmond

The mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is one of the most destructive bark beetles found on pine in western North America (McCambridge et al. 1979), particularly in forests of lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Douglas var. latifolia (Furniss and Carolin 1977). The treatment registered in the United States for the protection of high-value trees in residential areas and recreational areas is 2% carbaryl applied to the bole of the tree with a hydraulic sprayer. Recently, pine oil, a derivative of paper pulp waste, was found to be an effective non-insecticidal repellent against several species of bark beetles (Nijholt et al. 1981).


1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. S. Whitney ◽  
R. J. Bandoni ◽  
F. Oberwinkler

A new basidiomycete, Entomocorticium dendroctoni Whitn., Band. & Oberw., gen. et sp. nov., is described and illustrated. This cryptic fungus intermingles with blue stain fungi and produces abundant essentially sessile basidiospores in the galleries and pupal chambers of the mountain pine bark beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia Engelm.). The insect apparently disseminates the fungus. Experimentally, young partially insectary reared adult beetles fed E. dendroctoni produced 19% more eggs than beetles fed the blue stain fungi.


1980 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry G. Hynum ◽  
Alan A. Berryman

AbstractLanding rates as monitored by landing traps indicate that the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, is not attracted to lodgepole pine, Pinus contorta Dougl., prior to the first gallery start. Bark terpene odors and DBH were not correlated with beetle landing rates, with the exception of beta-phellandrene which accounted for a statistically significant 18% of the variation in landing rates. Beetles were unable to distinguish between hosts, dead hosts and nonhosts during landing. The elderberry pith bioassay indicated the presence of a gallery initiation stimulant in the bark.


1986 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Borden ◽  
L. J. Chong ◽  
T. E. Lacey

Baiting of trees with attractive semiochemicals prior to logging in three high hazard blocks of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm.) was effective in inducing attack by the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) on baited trees and on surrounding unbaited trees. There was evidence for partial shifting of attack loci, concentration of dispersing beetles and containment of emergent beetles as a result of the baiting program. However, baiting was ineffective when the baits were within the understory canopy, and the baiting program did not cause a massive influx of beetles from infestations 75-200 m away from the baited blocks. Such baiting programs would be cost effective if they avoided the necessity of disposing of two attacked trees/ha outside of the baited blocks. They have the additional advantage of reducing the risk of future beetle attacks by removing beetles and their broods during logging of induced infestations.


1981 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. W. Nijholt ◽  
L. H. McMullen ◽  
L. Safranyik

AbstractPine oil, a by-product of sulphate wood pulping, protected pheromone-baited, living Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.), and spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss - P. engelmannii Parry hybrids) from attack by Douglas-fir beetle (Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopk.), mountain pine beetle (D. ponderosa Hopk.), and spruce beetle (D. rufipennis (Kirby)), respectively. Pine oil also protected surrounding trees and reduced attack incidence on Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, and spruce within at least a 10 m radius. α-Terpineol, one of the constituents of the pine oil mixture, was less effective.


Author(s):  
J. Yavitt ◽  
D. Knight

A research project was initiated in the summer of 1980 to study the effect of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) outbreaks on forests dominated by lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. ssp. latifolia) in Yellowstone National Park (YNP), Wyoming. In the past twenty years, beetle outbreaks have become an increasing problem in the Park. These series of infestations first appeared in the Bechler Meadows area in the early 1960's, and have since spread northward with the most recent outbreaks occurring in stands along the Gallatin River. Based on aerial surveys, the highest concentration of beetle activity is currently centered in the West Yellowstone Madison River Canyon area of the Park. Since bark beetle infestations are a natural disturbance or perturbation similar to fire, knowledge of the structure and function of the forest on disturbed patches is vital to the ecological understanding of the landscape. Although the population ecology of mountain pine beetle in pine forests has been well documented (Coulson 1979), little has been done on their effect on ecosystem characteristics. Our approach has been to study 1) various nutrient cycling characteristics, 2) surviving tree growth, 3) succession, and 4) fuel accumulation patterns in a series of stands with different histories of beetle disturbance. The stands were selected to represent a chronosequence of beetle activity, dating from about 1965 to the present.


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