The Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic has become a major problem for North America in the last decade. While only the size of a grain of rice, the MPB has caused massive forest destruction in British Columbia as well as many parts of the United States. According to British Columbia’s government website (2012) “The B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations estimates that the mountain pine beetle has now killed a cumulative total of 710 million cubic meters of timber since the current infestation began”. This damage doesn’t even include the More than 3.3 million forested acres in Colorado that have been affected by MPB since the current infestation began more than a decade ago. (Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests). These aren’t the first outbreaks of the MBP though, and the beetle itself has been around for over 12,000 years. (D. Six n.d). There have been recorded outbreaks dating back to the 1920’s, but what makes this latest one so severe? (MBP Symp 2003) (p.43). The answer to this question is, a perfect mix of warmer winters, longer, drier summers, and larger, older pine stands.
The Mountain Pine Beetle adult has the ability to survive anywhere from -11 to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. (MBP Symp 2003) (p.27). It does so by producing a polyhydric alcohol in its blood. (Somme 1964) .The MPB needed this defense, as exposure to cold temperatures was its number one predator. (Safranyik 1978) (p.225). That being said, it has a tremendous adaptation for fighting the cold. This adaptation can only go so far, as the cold temperatures used to prevent the MPB from reaching higher elevations and spreading. This is no longer the case though, as Professor Ken Raffa (2012) explains “Warming temperatures have allowed tre...
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Safranyik, L. 1978. Effects of climate and weather on mountain pine beetle populations. Pages 79-86 in D.L. Kibbee, A.A. Berryman, G.D. Amman, and R.W. Stark, eds. Theory and practice of mountain pine beetle management in lodge-pole pine forests. Symp. Proc. ,Univ. Idaho, Moscow, ID.
Raffa 2012 http://www.news.wisc.edu/21388 Smith, R.H. (1963). Toxicity of pine resin vapors to three species of Dendroctonusvbark beetles. Journal of Economic Entomology 56: 827-831
Barnett, J. R. (2004). Langenheim, J.H. Plant resins: chemistry, evolution, ecology and ethnobotany. Annals Of Botany, 93(6), 784-785. doi:10.1093/aob/mch103
Reid, R.W. (1962). Biology of the mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus monticolae
Hopkins, in the east Kootenay region of British Columbia. I. Life cycle, brood development and flight periods. The Canadian Entomologist 94: 531- 538
ImageText BoxImageOne of the biggest threats to the environment of Ontario is the Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar dispar). The species itself is native to Europe and Asia. How this affects us is by weakening trees across Ontario and North America. The first time the gypsy moth was found in Ontario was 1969. The gypsy moth can be found in southern Canada (Ontario), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and British Columbia. It is known to weaken trees and the caterpillar form live in trees and during most outbreaks its caterpillar feces would fall from the trees to the ground or even on top of humans. The average Gypsy Caterpillar can grow 5-6 centimeters long. With five pairs of blue spots and six pairs of bright red dots on their back. The female moth are white and can fly on the other hand, the male moth are brown and can also fly. The female have a 5cm wing span but male have a 2.5cm wing span. The gypsy moth usually lives in open forests and other forests and take up at least 20% of the space. The Gypsy moth are about 4cm long, tan coloured and can be located on tree trunks, furniture, and buildings. (OFAH Invading Species Awareness Program, 2012)
A small beetle can kill a 1,000 year old tree. In recent years, the number of live whitebark pine trees has been declining dramatically. In the past, mountain pine beetle populations have erupted at times, causing widespread adverse effects on whitebark pine trees. A similar type of warming-related outbreak is occuring today. The whitebark pine tree is beneficial in many ways. In response to increased tree mortality, researchers have established some methods of restoration for the whitebark pine. Increasing temperatures due to global warming may be significantly changing the way mountain pine beetles interact with ecologically important whitebark pine trees by enabling the beetles to more
Arnett, Ross H. American Insects A Handbook of the insects of America north of Mexico. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1975.
The American Oil Beetle is a type of Blister Beetle. These beetles are referred to as oil beetles. They are called this because they release oily droplets of hemolymph when they feel threatened. When the beetle feels threatened or put under pressure, they will release a chemical called cantharidin, which creates blisters and will irritate the human skin. These beetles have a soft, and stout abdomen with a shell that looks like overlapping plates. The beetle has a slightly bumpy surface. The antennae can be seen on its head. The beetle can be appeared as dull black, or can be even seen as shiny black or dark blue. The American Oil Beetle do not fly,
Throughout the whole experiment, we learned many thing about the Bess Beetles, But there was many mistakes. The first mistake is that the beetles were not comfortable. The beetles felt that they were being watched and did not move as much as we would have liked. The second mistake is that
Ambrosia beetles instigate damage to a variety of trees and their rapid progression can remain unnoticed. Depending on cool-season temperatures, PSHB larvae overwinter in burrows beneath the bark for about 5-7 months, where they become adults. Adults arise
The only part of the plant that is consumed is the flower or bud. The stem and leaves of the plant can be broken down to make other materials. From this plant we could create consumer textiles, industrial textiles, paper, building materials, food, industrial products, and hygiene product... ... middle of paper ... ... just over half of all drug arrested in the States.
( Rhamnus cathartica ) on native species and forest habitat. The impact can be quite severe due to the
It reproduces sexually, at about 15 years (Jones, 1967), growing to 27 m tall with diameters to 1 m (Pavek, 1993). Southwestern white pine seedlings root to about 20.3 cm in the first year which increases their survival under drought conditions (Jones, 1971). In one study, the height of seedlings was an average of 33.8 inches at about 6 years of age (Jones, 1971) and in another study, 2 year old seedlings were 10.2-20.3 cm tall (Heit, 1973). The Southwestern White Pine typically occurs in low densities in Southwestern pine, mixed-conifer, and spruce-fir forests, most likely to be dominant in high-elevation cool habitats and may be present as a minor component in riparian community types in South-central Arizona and in the mountainous riparian woodland zone of Southwestern Colorado (Pavek,
Insects such as the mountain pine beetle have the potential to cause major mortality in the pine tree forest. Earthworms are also another problem linked to dieback and reproductive failure in mature northern hardwood trees, and loss of native plant species because they are invading the forests along the prairie-forest.
The responses from the U.S. Forest Service to wildfires through the majority of the twentieth century were counterproductive. 5 Furthermore, the northern Rocky Mountains region is the only area in the United States that has had significant increase in human-caused fires from 1940 to 2000. 6 To be effective, the fire policies of the United States Forest Service need to study past forest fires and recognize forest fire as a critical ecosystem process that should be studied at local levels and have planned and controlled fires which will reduce the likelihood of continued increase in human-caused fires. Forest types that are part of the Rocky Mountain ecosystem such as ponderosa pine and mixed conifer have been negatively impacted by fire exclusion, because when these forests are left untouched they acquire higher fuel loads and hazards as well as increased numbers of shade-tolerant species of plants that serve as easy tinder in a forest fire and accelerate the rate and spread of potential
...e natural enemies are introduced. In addition to the effect of these enemies and the other climatic factors on these three important scale insects are studied.
Nigh, Gordon D., Ying, Cheng C. & Qian, Hong. (2004, October). Climate and Productivity of Major Conifer Species in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Forest Science 50(5), 659.
AIM: To discover whether the Red Rust Flour beetles react and become more active in the warmer or cooler zones.
This species is a very important species in the nutrient cycling of ecosystems and plays and important role in structuring the soil. They primarily feed on the dung of animals and possess the ability to remove dung by burying it in the ground. The generally prefer the dung of herbivores but will also collect the dung from omnivores. There are three groups of dung beetles all which have different ways of handling, using or disposing the dung of animals. The rollers will generally roll dung into balls which can be used as a food source or will be used as brooding cavities. The tunnelers will simply put the dung inside of the ground where they find it. The dwellers will use the dung as a place of where they can live in. These beetles have a well-developed sense of smell and can easily find or track the dung of animals. A dung beetles lifespan varies depending on various factors such as predation. It is expected that dung beetles can live till the age of 5 years, but is generally between 3 and 5 years. The main predator of this species is insect-eating animals such as reptiles and birds.