Saproxylic beetle (Coleoptera) diversity in subalpine whitebark pine and lodgepole pine (Pinaceae) trees killed by mountain pine beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

2016 ◽  
Vol 148 (5) ◽  
pp. 556-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D. Esch ◽  
John R. Spence ◽  
David W. Langor

AbstractWhitebark pine,Pinus albicaulisEngelmann (Pinaceae), a foundational species of North American subalpine ecosystems, is endangered across its range and continued decline is inevitable. Little is known about the invertebrate fauna associated with this species which, if specific to whitebark pine, may also be threatened or endangered. We compared the composition of saproxylic beetle assemblages associated with whitebark pine and co-occurring lodgepole pine,Pinus contorta latifolia(Engelmann) Critchfield (Pinaceae), recently killed by mountain pine beetle (MPB),Dendroctonus ponderosaeHopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), in subalpine forests in Alberta, Canada. Redundancy and rarefaction analyses revealed that beetle assemblage composition was influenced by snag class (i.e., time since death) but differed little among the two pine species within snag classes. However, a subset of the assemblage known to be associated with the MPB differed significantly in composition between the two pines. No common species were exclusively associated with whitebark pines; however, seven species were rarely collected only on whitebark pine. With the possible exception of these rare species, felling and burning infested whitebark pines to control the MPB will not likely endanger saproxylic beetles associated with this tree.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan D. Esch ◽  
David W. Langor ◽  
John R. Spence

Breeding pairs of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) were introduced into freshly cut bolts of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson) in the laboratory. Brood adults emerging from the bolts were collected and galleries were dissected to compare reproductive success, brood production, and adult condition between the two pines. Beetles were more likely to establish egg galleries that produced brood in lodgepole pine than in whitebark pine. Larval gallery density per centimetre of egg gallery was significantly higher in whitebark pine than in lodgepole pine; however, egg galleries also tended to be shorter in whitebark pine bolts, and consequently, brood adults emerging production per gallery did not differ between the two host species. Female body size, mass, and fat content of brood adults and survival from larva to adult did not differ between beetles reared in the two hosts. Though this no-choice assay did not simulate the sequence of events occurring during host selection, these results are consistent with other data suggesting that beetles could be less likely to attack whitebark pines in southwestern Alberta. Whitebark pines that are attacked will produce brood in similar numbers and condition as those from lodgepole pines.


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.


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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (11) ◽  
pp. 1312-1319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor C. Lahr ◽  
Anna Sala

Stored resources in trees reflect physiological and environmental variables and affect life history traits, including growth, reproduction, resistance to abiotic stress, and defense. However, less attention has been paid to the fact that stored resources also determine tissue nutritional quality and may have direct consequences for the success of herbivores and pathogens. Here, we investigated whether stored resources differed between two hosts of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902): lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex. Loudon), a common host, and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelmann), a more naïve host that grows at higher altitudes. Phloem and sapwood were sampled in small- and large-diameter trees at two elevations, and nitrogen, phosphorus, nonstructural carbohydrates, and lipids were measured. We found that concentrations of stored resources increased with elevation and tree diameter for both species and that whitebark pine had thicker phloem than lodgepole pine. Overall, stored resources were higher in whitebark pine such that small-diameter whitebark pine trees often had resource concentrations higher than large-diameter lodgepole pines. These results suggest that whitebark pine is of higher nutritional quality than lodgepole pine, which could have implications for the current expansion of mountain pine beetles into higher altitude and latitude forests in response to climate warming.


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.


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