Insects dominate terrestrial ecosystems.

1
Insects dominate terrestrial ecosystems. So its
inevitable that humans and insects compete for
common resources
2
Sometimes the conflict between insects and humans
is straightforward
Competition for our Blood
Competition for our Food
Competition for our Home
3
But there is often disagreement on what methods
for suppressing insects are acceptable
Pesticides?
GMOs?
Tolerance for Injury By Plants? By Humans?
4
A Knowledge of Plant - Insect Interactions Can
Help Alleviate These Conflicts
Breeding for Resistance Altering Temporal
Spatial Arrangement of Plants to Disfavor
Herbivores Exploring Plants for Naturally
Occurring Pesticides Using Plant Signals,
Nutrients and Architecture to Enhance Biological
Control
Each tactic has limitations. Optimal
combinations matter
5
But often things are more complicated than they
appear
Boll Weevil
Damaged Cotton Field
6
Boll Weevil Monument, Enterprise Alabama
7
Tsetse fly Vectors Trypanosoma - Sleeping
Sickness
8
Often there is disagreement not just over
methods, but also what a resource is for
9
Natural resource challenges arise from specific
features of insect biology that force us to make
value-laden decisions
10
High Economic Losses to Forest Products
Spruce beetle in Alaska
Mountain pine beetle in Alaska
Impacts on Rural Communities Employment
Sustainability Loss of Ecosystem Services
Watershed, soil erosion
11
Our understanding of the system tells us that
thinning stands can reduce likelihood of
outbreaks
12
Our understanding of the system tells us that
removing large trees can reduce likelihood of
outbreaks
But Macroeconomic considerations Environmental
considerations Genetic considerations
13
Our understanding of the system tells us that
early salvage can reduce likelihood of outbreaks
becoming large
But Microeconomic considerations Environmental
considerations Aesthetic considerations
14
Integrated Pest Management Only applying
treatments when populations approach damaging
levels reduces insecticide inputs
Fir engraver in California
15
but damaging levels depends on our
expectations of the resource
Fir engraver in Lake Tahoe Country Club,
California
16
Tree Mortality at the Forest - Human Interface
Removal costs Hazards to humans Lowered property
values Fire policy - Back to the Future? Research
agenda
17
Bark Beetles in Litigation Disorder in the
galleries
18
Tree Mortality at the Wilderness - Managed Forest
Interface
Mountain pine beetle in Montana
Mountain pine beetle in BC
Do outbreaks erupt in wilderness areas and spread
to managed forests? If so Is controlling the
outbreak in the managed forest possible? Should
incipient outbreaks be treated in wilderness
areas? Should timber companies be compensated?
19
Threats to Endangered Species Red Cockaded
Wood-Pecker and the Southern Pine Beetle
20
Old Growth Forests A Prized Resource
Western Oregon
Olympic Peninsula, WA
Our knowledge of the system tells us old trees
are less resistant ...but landscape-scale
approaches are needed to make useful
applications of that knowledge
21
Consequences of Elevated Temperatures on Bark
Beetles that are already occurring
More frequent or extensive outbreaks Spruce
beetle Unprecedented outbreaks Pine engravers
in the southwest Expanded geographic range
Mountain pine beetle Latitude Altitude Broader
range of new introductions Expanded host
range Southern pine beetle White pine, Spruce
22
Responses of Mountain Pine Beetle to Elevated
Temperatures
Unprecedented magnitude latitude
23
Movement of mountain pine beetle into whitebark
pine in high elevation stands
Unprecedented Poorly defended trees Non
disturbance-adapted systems
24
Range expansion of mountain pine beetle toward
jack pine ready or not
Hybrid lodgepole- jack pine zone 7 N of
current MPB range
Can be reached with only 5 yrs of 2.5 C
above current mean
From Logan Powell 2001
25
Biological Invasions by Bark Beetles
European Elm Beetle
Pine Engraver Beetle
Turpentine Beetle
Banded Elm Beetle
Pine Shoot Beetle
Pitch Canker
26
Insects Provide Great Opportunities for Science
Education
Theyre Beautiful Dramatic Stimulate questions
about nature and career choices Portable Useful
for teaching scientific method
27
Insect Stimulate Kids with Reading Disabilities
to
Match action words with different insects Write
stories, books and posters Write haikus, poems,
cross word puzzles, games
The Firefly by Kanisha It visits at
dusk Fireflies light the night sky Without any
fear
The Grasshopper by Trevon Grasshoppers jump real
high So high they can touch the sky Thats how
high - sky high