Current and Projected Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak

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Current and Projected Mountain Pine Beetle
Outbreak

• 2005

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The Infestation

• The current MPB outbreak in BC is the most
  serious infestation in recorded history
• Until recently experts believed that an outbreak
  would kill between 30 and 50 of pine trees
  within a stand
• The current outbreak has killed 80 of the pine
  in many stands, and is spreading much more
  rapidly than predicted.

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Presentation Overview

• A brief description of the Mountain Pine Beetles
  appearance, life cycle, and the characteristics
  of attack
• The epidemic on a provincial scale
• The epidemic within the Okanagan Shuswap Forest
  District
• Options for Dealing with the epidemic

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The Beetle
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The Beetle

• The beetle itself is only the size of a grain of
  rice
• It can only be successful when attacking in large
  numbers

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The Beetle

• Characteristic pitch tubes which are the trees
  response to MPB attack
• Mass attack is critical to the success of the MPB
  in overcoming the trees defences, just a few
  attacks on a tree will be successfully pitched
  out

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Mountain Pine Beetle Larva gallery

• Adults visible in central gallery
• Larva present in larval gallery

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Life Cycle of the Mountain Pine Beetle

• Due to changing climatic conditions the beetle is
  now infesting stands once considered
  uninhabitable.
• The beetle attacks mature trees and lays their
  eggs from late July to early September, when
  daytime temperatures are warm.
• The eggs hatch and then feed on the cambium of
  the tree over winter as larvae.
• After pupating the following spring the beetle
  matures and repeats the cycle.
• The beetle remains outside the protective bark of
  the trees for only a few days during its life.

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Red Attack

• crown is straw/red/dull red in colour
• pitch tubes hardened on bole
• woodpeckering, exit holes
• One year following multiple attacks by Mountain
  Pine Beetles.

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Grey Attack

• Needles are grey or absent
• Bark could be loose
• Pitch tubes and galleries below bark still visible

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Mix of Green and Red Attack
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Progression to Red Attack
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Progression from Red to Grey Attack
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Grey Attack
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The epidemic was caused by

• An abundance of overmature lodgepole pine as a
  result of the province's very aggressive fire
  suppression action over the past 50 years.
• The mountain pine beetle is more successful
  attacking old trees due their lower vigor.
• Very cold temperatures will kill the beetle
  broods, but since 1991 we have had very mild
  winters.
• Hot dry summers in 1998 and 1999 and again in
  2003 weakened the old pine trees so they couldnt
  resist beetle attacks.
• Natural predators like woodpeckers cannot eat
  enough to keep the beetle populations low.

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The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic at the
Provincial Scale

• The following 16 slides show the progression to
  date and computer modelling of the expected
  expansion of the epidemic across British Columbia

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Projection if Mortality in Pine to 2015
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Projection for Okanagan Shuswap

• The forests of the Okanagan Shuswap Forest
  District are more mixed species than those in the
  central interior of the Province.
• Pine makes up 30 by volume of the trees on the
  timber harvest land base in the Okanagan Shuswap
  Forest District, so although experts predict
  70-80 kill of the pine in our stands, the
  overall effect will be considerably less than
  that experienced farther north.

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Area of Stands Attacked

• The graph shows the unprecedented expansion of
  the Mountain Pine Beetle within the Okanagan
  Shuswap Forest District

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Local images from this years flight
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Local images from this years flight
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Local images from this years flight
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Local images from this years flight
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Options for dealing with the results of the MPB
epidemic

• In the early stages of an outbreak single tree
  disposal is an option
• When an outbreak reaches the current level
  harvesting is the only proactive tool
• Removing the green, red and grey attacked trees
  reduces the beetle brood, salvages volumes which
  will become non recoverable and reduces the
  wildfire fuel loading

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Harvest Options

• Do nothing

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Harvest Options
Single Tree Selection Infested Trees Only
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Harvest Options
Small Patch Clear-cuts Attacked Healthy Pine
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Harvest Options
Combination Large Small Clear-cuts and
Selection
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• DISTRICT STRATEGY
• Zonation
• Salvage
• Holding
• Suppression
• Strategy Document
• Goals
• Objectives
• Guidelines
• Retention Plans
• For units with significant infested or
  susceptible timber
• Other
• Development Plans
• Uplift request

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• RETENTION PLANNING
• Log Zone
• No-Log Zone
• Special Harvest Zone
• Goals
• Logical Development
• Respect all Values.
• Maintain enough timber to address other values.
• Short Long Term retention.
• Landscape Stand-level retention.

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Harvest Options
Potential Retention in Pure Pine stands with Not
muchOlder Harvesting Activity
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Harvest Options

• RETENTION OPTIONS IN OKANAGAN TSA
• More old logging history More mixed Species

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Harvest Options
RETENTION ABERDEEN PLATEAU
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Whats Happening Currently?

• Forest companies, in conjuction with the Ministry
  of Forests and Range, are developing retention
  plans for those areas which have existing or
  predicted outbreaks of Mountain Pine Beetle.
• The amount and type of harvesting which occurs
  will depend on timber type, terrain, and other
  resource values.
• The Okanagan Shuswap Forest District is currently
  applying for a harvest uplift to deal with the
  current and predicted MPB infestation.

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ThanksOkanagan Shuswap Forest District