scholarly journals Effects of a Severe Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic in Western Alberta, Canada under Two Forest Management Scenarios

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Schneider ◽  
Maria Cecilia Latham ◽  
Brad Stelfox ◽  
Dan Farr ◽  
Stan Boutin
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Mixed Stands ◽  
Timber Supply ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Management Approaches

We used a simulation model to investigate possible effects of a severe mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosaeHopkins) epidemic under two management scenarios in Alberta, Canada. Our simulated outbreak was based on the current epidemic in British Columbia, which may kill close to 80% of the province's pine volume. Our two management scenarios were conventional harvest and a pine-reduction strategy modeled on a component of Alberta's Mountain Pine Beetle Management Strategy. The pine strategy seeks to reduce the number of susceptible pine stands by 75% over the next 20 years through targeted harvesting by the forest industry. Our simulations showed that the pine strategy could not be effectively implemented, even if the onset of the beetle outbreak was delayed for 20 years. Even though we increased mill capacity by 20% and directed all harvesting to high volume pine stands during the pine strategy's surge cut, the amount of highly susceptible pine was reduced by only 43%. Additional pine volume remained within mixed stands that were not targeted by the pine strategy. When the outbreak occurred in each scenario, sufficient pine remained on the landscape for the beetle to cause the timber supply to collapse. Alternative management approaches and avenues for future research are discussed.

Assessing forest management strategies under a mountain pine beetle attack in Alberta: exploring the impacts

2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 597-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne-Hélène Mathey ◽  
Harry Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Forest Management ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Timber Supply ◽  
Growing Stock ◽  
Management Objectives ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Recourse Approach ◽  
Pine Beetle

We explore how forest resource managers can respond to a potential outbreak of mountain pine beetle ( Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) by assessing how well different forest management strategies achieve various management objectives over time. Strategies include targeting at-risk stands as well as increasing harvest levels. Outcomes are evaluated on the basis of volume flows, net revenues, and the age class structure of the ending inventory. We use a spatially and temporally explicit model to simulate forest management outcomes and consider two different scenarios, one in which the attack occurs early and one where it is delayed. The model utilizes a planning with recourse approach in which the firm can reevaluate its harvesting schedule following the attack. We use company data from west-central Alberta for a 40-year planning exercise. The timing of the attack resulted in small differences in timber supply. However, most strategies performed better financially under an early attack, which limits the harvest of marginal stands. Increasing harvest levels performed better in economic terms but resulted in a very young growing stock with little old forest. The success of any strategy is linked to the timing of the attack and how it affects the growing stock, subsequently impacting timber and revenue flows.

Acoustics of the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) (Curculionidae, Scolytinae): sonic, ultrasonic, and vibration characteristics

2013 ◽  
Vol 91 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Fleming ◽  
A.A. Lindeman ◽  
A.L. Carroll ◽  
J.E. Yack
Keyword(s):  
Bark Beetles ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Dendroctonus Ponderosae ◽  
Laser Doppler Vibrometer ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Acoustic Signaling ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Close Range ◽  
Low Amplitude

Acoustic signaling is widespread in bark beetles (Scolytinae), although little is known about the physical characteristics of signals, how they are transmitted, and how they differ among behavioural contexts. Signals were studied in the male mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) during stress, male–female, and male–male interactions. Sounds are broadband with significant energy in the ultrasound (peaks between 15 and 26 kHz) and low amplitude (55 and 47 dB SPL at 2 and 4 cm, respectively), indicating that signaling functions at close range. Signal trains vary among contexts primarily in the proportions of chirp types. Chirps were categorized as being simple or interrupted, with the former having significantly lower tooth strike rates and shorter chirp durations. Stress chirps are predominantly simple with characteristics resembling other insect disturbance signals. Male–female interactions begin with the male producing predominantly interrupted chirps prior to gallery entrance, followed by simple chirps. Male–male (rivalry) chirps are predominantly simple, with evidence of antiphonal calling. Substrate-borne vibrations were detectable with a laser-doppler vibrometer at short distances (1–3 cm), suggesting that sensory organs could be tuned to either air or substrate-borne vibrations. These results have important implications for future research on the function and reception of acoustic signals in bark beetles.

Density-dependent responses of mountain pine beetle to its pheromones and host volatiles in naïve lodgepole pine stands

2020 ◽  
Vol 472 ◽  
pp. 118257
Author(s):  
Jennifer G. Klutsch ◽  
Gail Classens ◽  
Caroline Whitehouse ◽  
James F. Cahill ◽  
Nadir Erbilgin
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Host Volatiles ◽  
Density Dependent ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands

Reduction of mountain pine beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) attacks by verbenone in lodgepole pine stands in British Columbia

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Lindgren ◽  
J. H. Borden ◽  
G. H. Cushon ◽  
L. J. Chong ◽  
C. J. Higgins
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Release Devices

The effect of the aggregation-inhibiting pheromone verbenone on mountain pine beetle attacks in lodgepole pine stands was assessed by affixing verbenone release devices on trees on a 10 × 10 m grid. In one experiment, aggregation to trees baited with an attractive combination of trans-verbenol, exo-brevicomin, and myrcene was reduced in verbenone-treated blocks compared with control blocks (attractive baits only). The mean number of trees with mass attacks (≥31.3 attacks/m2), mean percentage of available trees mass attacked, and mean total number of trees infested were reduced by 74.3, 66.7, and 58.5%, respectively. The ratio of 1987 attacks to 1986 attacks was reduced from 14.0 to 2.6. In a second experiment, using no attractive baits, verbenone caused similar but nonsignificant reductions. The mean number of trees with mass attacks, mean percentage of available trees mass attacked, and mean total number of trees infested were reduced by 75.2, 53.5, and 62.1%, respectively. The 1987 to 1986 attack ratio was reduced from 13.2 in control blocks to 0.2 in the verbenone-treated blocks, and the percentage of trees that were infested but not mass attacked was significantly increased, from 45.7% in the control blocks to 63.2% in the verbenone-treated blocks. We conclude that verbenone shows promise as a management tool for controlling the mountain pine beetle.

Partial cutting lodgepole pine stands to reduce losses to the mountain pine beetle

1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1234-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. McGregor ◽  
Gene D. Amman ◽  
Richard F. Schmitz ◽  
Robert D. Oakes
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Partial Cutting ◽  
Breast Height ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands ◽  
Treatment Mortality

Partial cutting prescriptions were applied in the fall of 1978 through the early winter of 1980 to lodgepole pine stands (Pinuscontorta Douglas var. latifolia Engelmann) threatened by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonusponderosae Hopkins) in the Kootenai and Lolo National Forests in western Montana, U.S.A. Partial cutting prescriptions consisted of removing from separate stands all trees 17.8, 25,4, and 30.5 cm and larger diameter at breast height (dbh), and prescriptions leaving 18.4, 23.0, and 27.6 m2 basal area per hectare. In thinned stands, the first 5 years' results following cutting showed greatly reduced tree losses to mountain pine beetle when compared with untreated stands (P < 0.01) on both forests. There were no significant differences in tree losses among partial cut treatments (P > 0.05). Post treatment mortality of lodgepole pine 12.7 cm and larger dbh to mountain pine beetle averaged 4.0 to 38.6% on the Kootenai and 6.0 to 17.1% on the Lolo in treated stands, compared with averages of 93.8 and 73.1% in untreated stands. Partial cutting appears to be useful for reducing lodgepole losses to mountain pine beetle.

Mortality, structure, and regeneration in whitebark pine stands impacted by mountain pine beetle in the southern Sierra Nevada

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc D. Meyer ◽  
Beverly Bulaon ◽  
Martin MacKenzie ◽  
Hugh D. Safford
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Large Diameter ◽  
Whitebark Pine ◽  
Tree Diameter ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Pine Regeneration ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) is vulnerable to mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) attack throughout western North America, but beetle outbreaks in the southwestern portion of the range (i.e., Sierra Nevada) have been spatially limited until recently. We examined patterns of mortality, structure, and regeneration in whitebark pine stands impacted by mountain pine beetle in the southern Sierra Nevada. Mortality was greatest in medium to large diameter (>10–20 cm dbh) trees, resulting in declines in mean and maximum tree diameter and tree size class diversity following an outbreak. Severity of beetle attack was positively related to mean tree diameter and density. Density of young (<3 years old) whitebark pine seedling clusters was positively related to severity of beetle attack on mature stands. All sites showed a stable production of whitebark pine regeneration within at least the past 30–40 years, with a pulse of new seedlings in the past 3 years in beetle-impacted stands. Our results show that mountain pine beetle outbreaks in the southern Sierra Nevada result in substantial changes in whitebark pine stand structure and suggest low resistance but high resilience to initial attack, especially in the absence of white pine blister rust.

scholarly journals Growth and yield of lodgepole pine stands disturbed by mountain pine beetle in the Lower Foothills of Alberta

2021 ◽  
Vol 97 (01) ◽  
pp. 65-77
Author(s):  
W. Richard Dempster ◽  
Sharon Meredith
Keyword(s):  
Mountain Pine Beetle ◽  
Growth Models ◽  
Lodgepole Pine ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Tree Species Composition ◽  
Permanent Sample Plots ◽  
Mountain Pine ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Pine Beetle ◽  
Pine Stands

Changes in the structure and dynamics of lodgepole pine stands following the 2006 outbreak of mountain pine beetle in western Alberta were investigated by monitoring attacked permanent sample plots over the following decade and projecting future stand development with locally validated growth models. Results suggest that a wide range in growth and yield of attacked stands is likely, with projected impacts varying from minor and inconsequential modifications to full stand replacement. Severely disturbed stands are unlikely to naturally regenerate to pine. The degree to which timber production is naturally restored in such stands will depend to a large extent on the amount and composition of non-pine advance growth and regeneration. Variation in attack severity and tree species composition will, in the absence of clearcutting following disturbance, result in increased diversity in stand and forest structure. Recommendations are made for scheduling salvage and restoration operations to ameliorate losses in timber supply.

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