In the west there is a great epidemic. It is native and knows no borders. It is targeting our pine trees without mercy, infecting more trees each year. Once a tree is infested, there is no cure, the tree will die, it is simply a matter of time. This epidemic has but one enemy, temperature. The mortality rate of our trees vary, some say that it is as high as 87% others say that it is between 50-75% obviously it varies from area to area. The culprit of all this destruction is a 1/3 of an inch insect called the Mountain Pine Beetle. It is amazing how something so small can create such a large impact.
Right now many people are saying, “So What?” Obviously there are a great number of environmental effects of this such as habitat loss, erosion, and air quality. There are also economic costs such as a loss of revenue, reduced recreation opportunities, and a loss of jobs. These effects are not as great as the one that affects all of us, global warming. The scary part is that the best way to destroy the mountain pine beetle is to have extremely cold temperatures of -30 degrees, for 5 continuous days. With every tree that is destroyed it becomes more difficult for us to have these cold temperatures because pine trees are carbon sinks. As they are destroyed they release the carbon back into our ecosystem, sometimes in the form of CO2 in our air. The more green house gasses that are present, the warmer our planet gets, and the harder it is to get these cold temperatures.
There are many solutions to these problems, but many of them are difficult. You can cut or remove infected trees to reduce the possibility of spreading, but it must be done carefully. Thinning can also be done pre-disease as a preventive measure. Insecticides for preventative measures can be used but are not always cost effective. Another solution to all of this is planning. If we know that our trees are going to die, then we can accept it and figure out what to do now to prepare for the future. We need to decide what to replace our lost trees with. One suggestion would be to try to find species of pine that will act as carbon sinks but not be as susceptible to beetle attacks. If this is not an option, then we may need to replace our trees with hardwoods, and find other options to reduce our carbon. In some cases legislature may be needed to help with some of the issues dealing with the beetles. Right now it is hard to see what action should be taken, but if we work to try and find the right solutions, then our forests may be able to survive this attack.
David,
ReplyDeleteI had some questions after reading your piece. One - is the pine mountain beetle a non-native species or is it a native species that is thriving due to a declining number of continuous hard-freeze days? My second question is related to your supposition that we may need to replace these pine forests with hardwood species (that would theoretically be immune to this infestation). Do you know if the climate/soils would support hardwood forests? Usually hardwood forests are found in more temperate climates. It may be true that climate change is causing or exacerbating the pine beetle blight, but is it changing enough to support an entirely different family of tree species?
To answer your questions, the pine bark beetle is native, and it is thriving because of a lack of hard freeze days. One source said that the beetle may have been around since the pine tree (probably not completely true, but lets not go there.)
ReplyDeleteYes, hardwood trees do grow at the same altitude and elevation as these pines. Aspen stands grow alongside many pine stands. The issues are that Aspen and other hardwoods do not sequester as much carbon as the pines, and changing tree species may alter the ecosystem. This could change the animals that live here and may create a monoculture.