Mountain Pine Beetle Natural Disaster or Natural Consequence?

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Mountain Pine BeetleNatural DisasterorNatural
Consequence?
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Presentation Overview

• Meet the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB)
• Importance of Lodgepole Pine in BC
• Life Cycle of the bug
• Green Red Gray Attack
• Population Dynamics
• Pine Beetle Fire Ecology
• Management Tactics

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Meet the MPB

• MPB - a small beetle, the size of a grain of rice
• Range western N.A. (and is now expanding)
• MPB is an important part of the ecosystem
• but it can have dramatic effects
• Preferred host is lodgepole pine

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Importance of Lodgepole Pine in BC

• BC has a vast amount of lodgepole pine
• Some figures
• 95 million ha (hectares) size of BC
• 60 million ha forested land
• 25 million ha operational forests
• 15 million ha lodgepole pine forest (25 of
  BCs forest)
• 13.5 million ha MPB outbreak
• 0.2 million ha harvested per year
• When the outbreak is finished
• 80 of the mature lodgepole pine in BC will be
  dead

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The Outbreak !!
Videos Ministry of Forests Cumulative Damage
of current outbreak (from 1999) After viewing an
animation, when you hit the back button to
return to this presentation you may see a window
that asks whether you want to open, save or
cancel select open to return to this slide.
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Life Cycle

• Typical 4 stages of an insect (with complete
  metamorphosis)
• Adult
• Egg
• Larva
• Pupa

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Adult

• Adults emerge from under the bark in late summer
• Need to fly!
• Female seeks out a suitable host
• Larger (older) pine is preferred (kairomones)
• Once suitable host is found pheromones
  female-perfume males-cologne (party time!)
• Mating pair then tunnels into the cambial zone
• Inoculate tree with blue stain fungus
• No vacancy pheromone once tree is fully occupied

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Egg

• Parents bore a gallery in the inner bark /
  cambial region
• Gallery is vertical
• Eggs are laid alternately along the sides of the
  gallery

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Larva

• Larva hatch after 1-2 weeks
• Larva create feeding tunnels at right angles
• Inner bark (phloem) is full of sugar!
• Larva overwinter under the bark
• and continue feeding next spring

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Pupa

• Pupal stage occurs the following year
• Takes about 2-4 weeks to change from a larva to
  an adult

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Life Cycle Review
4) Next Summer (next generation of adults emerge)
1) Summer (adults emerge attack)
3) Next Spring (larva continue feeding, then
pupate)
2) Over winter (as larva under the bark)
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Blue Stain Fungus

• Ceratocystis spp. (Ophiostoma)
• Ascomycetes (not a decay fungus)
• Brought in with the beetle
• Fungus infects sapwood
• Blocks water flow
• Reduces ability to pitch out beetle
• Retains moisture good for beetle brood
• Provides critical nutrition for young adults

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Green Red Gray Attack

• In the year a pine tree is attacked (summer) it
  remains green
• The following year it dies and turns bright red
  (but beetles are gone)
• After that the foliage turns gray and falls off
• Only the green attack trees contain beetles

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Susceptible Stands

• Susceptibility increases with
• Age (gt80 years are at highest risk)
• Size (gt 25 cm diameter _at_ breast ht.)
• Stand composition (higher of pine, higher risk)
• Stand density (750 1,500 trees/ha)
• Temperature (lower latitude/elevation, higher
  risk)

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Population Dynamics (4 Stages)

• 4 Stages
• Endemic normal level natural thinning agent
• Incipient building phase
• Epidemic outbreak! stand replacing agent
• Collapse (back to endemic)
• Factors favoring the outbreak
• Abundant food source (Pl forest)
• Drought stress (late 90s and 2003)
• Nice weather for beetle flight (summer)
• Mild winters
• Collapse Factors
• Lack of food
• Cold weather
• -40C spike, -30C prolonged, -20C in shoulder
  season

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Reminder

• This outbreak is the largest in BC recorded
  history
• After it is done 80 of the lodgepole pine
  will be dead
• Reasons for outbreak
• Abundance of pine
• Mild winters
• Warm summers

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MPB Fire Lodgepole Pine

• Fire the MPB play a complex role in
  regenerating lodgepole pine (video)
• you will have the option to download a video from
  the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) web site video
  is about 5 minutes and VERY good
• after viewing the video, when you hit the back
  button to return to this presentation, you may
  see a window that asks whether you want to open,
  save or cancel select open to return to this
  slide
• Low intensity fires act as a thinning agent
• High intensity fires act as a stand replacing
  agent
• We fight fires so we now have denser (more
  stressed) stands AND we have more area with older
  lodgepole pine than ever before (3 xs)
• Natural fires 500,000 ha now 23,000 ha fire
• Remember the MPB likes older, stressed lodgepole
  pine

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Management Options aimed at MPB

• Annual Monitoring (aerial/ground surveys,
  pheromone traps)
• Mass Trapping often with other trtmts(with
  pheromones, ineffective in epidemic)
• Go after the beetle
• Sanitation Logging a control tactic (get the
  green attack before beetle flight)
• Spot Treatment for isolated patches(insecticide
  (MSMA) or fall burn, before flight)
• Broadcast Fire - mimic nature(with control
  measures)
• Hauling Restrictions no hauling during beetle
  flight (less of an issue in vast epidemic)
• Salvage Logging not a control tactic(get the
  red/gray attacked trees)
• Abandon for out of control epidemic(just walk
  away)
• Protective Insecticide for urban
  setting(Carbaryl (Sevin) on trunk before flight)
• Pheromone Repellant - verbenone, looks promising
  (no vacancy scent)
• Trunk Screen
• - fiberglass wrapped around trunk urban
  setting

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Management Aimed at Pine

• Log most susceptible stands first (80 yr, 25 cm
  dbh, etc.)
• Create an age class mosaic within a watershed
• Utilize a shorter rotation (harvest) age
• Promote mixed species (planting spacing)
• Remove pine from mixed stands (during outbreak)
  (speed succession)
• Beetle proof pine stands reduce density lt500
  sph (light/temp, wind, vigour)

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Summary

• Outbreaks result from an abundant food source and
  favourable weather (warm summers mild winters)
• In spite of best efforts, outbreaks will occur
  they are natural
• Best time for action is at the incipient stage
• Long term management should focus on lodgepole
  pine, not the MPB

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This presentation was brought to by the Tree
Doctor
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Thats all folks!