The Bark Beetle and Our Forest
These days as you drive or walk through many pine forests you can see dying and dead trees one after another. The death rate of pine trees has increased over the last decade.
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It is said that at this rate in a few decades these pine forests will all become oak forests. The Bark Beetle has become a major contributor to this problem.
In fact it has become quite a pest around Canada, the United States and other parts of the world as well.
California, Arizona and New Mexico are particularly plagued with them due to the arid conditions they have all experienced over the last few decades.
There are hundreds of different varieties of bark beetles, but the pine beetle is doing a significant amount of the damage lately.
The Bark Beetle gets its name from its tendency to bore through the outer bark of a tree and will live and reproduce in the inner layers.
Typically they begin by entering a tree already in trouble or in a dying stage. The female bores in through the bark and lays her eggs. They carve out channels and galleries feeding off of the tree which will eventually lead to its death.
When the colony gets big enough the young fly off and will infest other trees.
A strong tree can resist the beetle by filling their holes with enough resin in their sap. Weakened trees cannot provide enough sap to keep them out.
Some varieties only enter trees that are already dying or that are dead. Many enter trees that are simply weakened by drought or other issues and would otherwise recover in time.
Signs Of The Bark Beetle
Fading foliage (changing from green to yellowish-green to sorrel to red and finally to rusty brown) is frequently the first sign of attack. By the time the needles have faded to red the tree is already dying.
What Can We Do?
The only known direct control method is the removal of infested trees.
As it stands most forests in North America are over populated. The existing ground water cannot supply enough water to keep these trees healthy. This makes weak trees unable to resist the bark beetle.
Many believe that thinning overly dense tree stands is the best way to prevent future bark beetle damage as well as help in preventing and controlling forest fires.
Thinning can increase individual tree health by removing excess trees and removing the existing beetle population.
If dead trees are left standing they will provide homes for a new generation of beetles to attack more trees. They also provide a great source of fuel during a forest fire.
A Carbon Footprint
The Canadian Forest Service has studied the relationship between the carbon cycle and forest fires, logging and tree deaths.
They concluded that by 2020 the pine beetle outbreak will have released 270 megaton's of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from Canadian forests.
There is yet to be an accepted study of the carbon cycle effect over a future period of time for North American forests.
Contributing to other Damage
In late 2003, Southern California was ablaze with wild fires. Some 650,000 Acres went up destroying over 2, 500 homes and killed a number of people including some of the highly trained firemen.
These dying trees did not help the situation at all. The massive spread of these fires was principally due to arid conditions and unusually strong winds. But having that much extra fuel to burn contributed considerably to the difficulty the forest service had in controlling the fire.
More than one area has suffered more than they should have because of the tremendous fuel that was present because dead and dieing trees were not removed.
I am a conservationist, have great love for our forests and do not condone logging as a way to control the bark beetle. However, as I camp in our forests I see that of them are simply overgrown.
I want the best for our forest and proper care is what they need, not the forced neglect that our forest service has had to endure.