OBSERVATIONS ON OUTBREAKS AND CONTROL OF THE MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE IN THE LODGE-POLE PINE STANDS OF WESTERN CANADA

1945 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geo. R. Hopping ◽  
W. G. Mathers
2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 2931-2948 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. N. GAYATHRI SAMARASEKERA ◽  
NICHOLAS V. BARTELL ◽  
B. STAFFAN LINDGREN ◽  
JANICE E. K. COOKE ◽  
COREY S. DAVIS ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 1339-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Wittische ◽  
Jasmine K. Janes ◽  
Patrick M.A. James

The current mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) outbreak has reached more than 25 million hectares of forests in North America, affecting pine species throughout the region and substantially changing landscapes. However, landscape features that enhance or limit dispersal during the geographic expansion associated with the outbreak are poorly understood. One of the obstacles in evaluating the effects of landscape features on dispersal is the parameterization of resistance surfaces, which are often constructed based on biased expert opinion or by making assumptions in the calculation of ecological distances. In this study, we assessed the impact of four environmental variables on MPB genetic connectivity across western Canada. We optimized resistance surfaces using genetic algorithms and models of maximum likelihood population effects, based on pairwise genetic distances and ecological distances calculated using random-walk commute-time distances. Unlike other methods for the development of resistance surfaces, this approach does not make a priori assumptions about the direction or shape of the relationships between environmental features and their cost to movement. We found highest support for a composite resistance surface including elevation and climate. These results further the understanding of MPB movement during an outbreak. Additionally, we demonstrated how to use our results for management purposes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 472 ◽  
pp. 118257
Author(s):  
Jennifer G. Klutsch ◽  
Gail Classens ◽  
Caroline Whitehouse ◽  
James F. Cahill ◽  
Nadir Erbilgin

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. S. Lindgren ◽  
J. H. Borden ◽  
G. H. Cushon ◽  
L. J. Chong ◽  
C. J. Higgins

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 987-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amalesh Dhar ◽  
Lael Parrott ◽  
Scott Heckbert

After affecting millions of hectares of pine forests in western Canada, the mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonous ponderosae Hopkins) is spreading out of its native range and into Canada’s boreal forest. Impacts of outbreaks can be environmental, economic, and social, and an ecosystem services (ES) viewpoint provides a useful perspective for an integrated approach to assessing these impacts and may help to identify how possible management strategies could minimize these impacts. In this regards, a comprehensive overview of the ecosystem functions and socioeconomic factors that have been impacted by the current outbreaks in western Canada was carried out to facilitate a more general ES assessment. In addition to timber production, current MPB outbreaks have negative effects on provisioning services (water supply and food production) and aesthetic cultural services, while effects on regulating services (carbon and forest fire) are still in debate. Among the supporting services, nutrient cycling and aquatic habitat showed short- and long-term negative effects, while terrestrial habitat showed a mostly positive response. The overall impact on ES may be more severe if salvage logging is practiced as a post-MPB forest management strategy. The outcomes of this study may help to identify areas of greatest socioecological vulnerability to MPB and identify knowledge gaps and avenues for research to advance the ES framework for MPB outbreak management.


1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1234-1239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. McGregor ◽  
Gene D. Amman ◽  
Richard F. Schmitz ◽  
Robert D. Oakes

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc D. Meyer ◽  
Beverly Bulaon ◽  
Martin MacKenzie ◽  
Hugh D. Safford

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.


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