Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak : Underlying Cause

The emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, is a beetle that was first discovered in 2002 in the US near the Detroit area and southeastern portions of Michigan. This beetle is believed to have originated in Asia. The theory is that they arrived in the states in packing material made of wood on cargo ships traveling on the St. Lawrence River, which then leads into the Great Lakes. Since 2002, this beetle has made its way into parts of Canada and now in at least eighteen states in the US (Emerald, n.d.). They are causing major destruction of Ash trees in all of these areas, and Vermont is starting to take precautions to be prepared if and when these beetles show up in The Green Mountain

Can you imagine what it would be like to live in the northwest region of America 400 years ago and where the temperature dropped to -40°C and in the summer the temperature only rises to 10°C (50°F). That is what the Nez-Perce Indians had to adapt to in the Blue Mountains,

Emerald Ash Borers has killed millions of ash tree and put billions more at risk. Emerald Ash Borers originated in Asia and eastern Russia was first discovered in Canada in 2002. It is now widespread in Quebec and Ontario areas. Emerald Ash Borers can be spread to various parts of Canada and USA through infested firewood trading. Therefore the government of Canada has decided to restrict infested areas. Emerald Ash Borer arrived to Canada through trading forestry products. If we had been more careful, Emerald Ash Borers would have never entered Canada. Therefore our interaction in cutting down trees to trade and trading with others has an important effect on the welfare of our forests. The interaction of receiving wood from outside our country

The shade provides little protection for these plants against the hot and humid climate. Small insects such as moths, caterpillars, and snails causes damages to the plants by biting and leaving holes in the leaves. Stream bank erosion, deer, goat, and cattle browsing, flooding, and diseases causes Texas snowbells to die off. Because of their small population size, Texas snowbells cannot reproduce (Fish and Wildlife Service). Another challenge to their survival is the vegetation alteration caused by the increasing number of livestock, fire suppression, and cultivation (Texas Parks and Wildlife). Livestock are eating up the seeds produced by this flower. Grasses used to be tall, but became short because insects and animals are eating them. Since grasses are short, Texas snowbell is more noticeable to predators. Higher sedimentation loss and lower run-offs is a result of the change in grass size, destroying the cliffs where Texas snowbells grow (Fish and Wildlife Service). Their habitat is being destroyed, reducing their numbers drastically. Temperatures in the Edwards Plateau are hot to the plant, causing them to die because of heat (Fish and Wildlife

35. Question : What is the biggest threat to southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests in Arizona?

The goal of restoration is to return the mixed conifer forest to the landscape in order to restore wildlife habitat and connectivity, as well as reduce fuel load (USDA Forest Service). Time and money can be saved if replanting efforts could be focused to the areas with the highest burn severity and most suitable growing conditions. Replanting by the Tuolumne River Trust has occurred in Ackerson, Buck Meadows, Evergreen, Saw Mill, Tawonga Entrance, and Tawonga North areas, but due to a multitude of reasons many sapling were unable to survive. Insect infestation and drought in California caused by Climate Change have only exacerbated circumstances and advanced forest instability. In order to succeed a forest needs to be able to be able to adapt to its changing climate, but the stressed Stanislaus National Forests are currently growing less

It is undeniable that climate change is drastically changing our current landscapes throughout the world. There are many individuals who consider climate change to be a natural and organic progression, but many studies indicate that due to excess greenhouse gas emissions, humans are accelerating global warming at an alarming rate. It’s convenient to continuously dismiss the studies and evidence that suggest climate change is real and it could have serious consequences, but when these drastic changes are taking place in our own backyard, it becomes a harsh reality. There is longstanding research, which indicates that the Colorado River has been in a drought since the early 2000’s and researchers allege that due to rising temperatures, the

Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) most likely came to the United States through solid wood shipments from Asia, and has established its habitat in 25 states - including Georgia - and two Canadian provinces. The female lays eggs and the cream-colored larvae chew tunnels through the wood. The adults are shiny green beetles about a half inch in length and burrow through the wood. Symptoms of EAB infestation in a tree include vertical

Forests in Northern Arizona that the tribal communities depend upon are currently threatened by climate change. Ecosystems with high and rising temperatures, such as Northern Arizona, are susceptible to drought. In turn, the decrease in precipitation due to droughts leads to an overall reduction in growth as well as health for plants. A study concerning Northern Arizona forest found that tree mortality increased 200% from 1997-2002 to 2002-2007 in mixed-conifer forests and 74% in ponderosa pine forests. This tree mortality can be traced back to forest insects like bark beetles as well as long-term drought stress throughout the ecosystem (Ganey & Vojta, 162). Insects such as the spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis), pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), and especially piñon ips beetle (Ips spp.) threaten forests (MacDonald & Turner, 21260). Climate change causes tree mortality as overall warming leads to greater beetle reproduction as well as greater range of beetle territory (MacDonald

To make matters worse California is in the middle of a devastating drought, causing many forest fires. But these trees remain unfazed, as a matter of fact fire is an innate part of this ecosystems, many animals depend on fires for survival like the black-backed woodpecker who their main source of food are tree inhabiting beetles. When the bark is chard this helps the woodpecker find its food easier. Unlike a lot of other trees sequoias need fire to reproduce. The fire also does 3 things for the sequoias: it heats up and opens the cones releasing seeds, second,the fire makes and opening in the canopy of the trees to allow sunlight to shine through, and finally, the fire gives the sequoias seeds a nutrient rich place to grow (Yosemite, 2017). When winter comes around the ice pack covers the seeds allowing the seeds to be in the right condition to start the process of germination. In the episode they talk to a forest ecologist that works for the U.S geological survey, his job is to monitor the trees response to the drought and in recent years by recording the water content in the clippings they have found that the water content is decreasing. Which is a warning sign that the tree might be dying or under stress from the drought. When a sequoia is healthy is clippings are green and have a higher water content, but since the water content is decreasing that the amount of water to keep the cells at an

Looking further into the impacts of the Rodeo-Chediski fire the trees saw the greatest impact of the fire. Almost 90% of the trees suffered complete crown kill (Ffolliott, 2008). Either some trees had survived with low severity, were harmed, or dead because of the drought and the fire combined. Even though some of the trees that had faced high severity apparently after having seen what trees had survived the fire yet by 2004 two years after the fire they had died (Ffolliott, 2008). The wildfire also impacted the standardization structure, post-fire mortality of trees, and stocking of tree reproduction on the Steamer Ridge Watershed (Ffolliott, 2008). After the fire had finally been contained the density of the forest had been forever changed.

2010). (Millar & Westfall 2010). Examined Sierra Nevada talus slopes and found that warmer, drier sites were less likely to support current pika populations than cooler wetter sites. Extant pika populations in the Southern Rockies are experiencing extreme climatic change. Maximum summer temperatures are indicated a warming trend. Despite these changes in summer temperature, there was no effect found of temperature on pika persistence in the study area. Although recent impact of temperature on pika populations does not appear universal throughout the species range, there is an obvious impact of precipitation becoming more consistent. It was found that water is the primary driver of pika persistence patterns in the study region. Not only were the four extirpation sites among the driest of the sites studied but the also lacked water sources for the pika. If present, these water sources could buffer pikas and the plant communities on which they depend from the effects of low precipitation (Millar & Westfall 2010). If low precipitation drives extirpation in the Southern Rockies, it would be expected that populations experiencing a decrease in annual precipitation due to modern climate change to be more prone to extirpation. However, this is not what is happening. The study sites have experienced relatively little change in precipitation between the periods of 1908-1979 and 1980-2007. The fact that sites experiencing decreasing precipitation, supports the evidence that pikas may seem contradictory with the finding that populations at dry sites are more prone to extirpation. It is crucial to monitor these locations in the coming years and decades, as continued drying trends could place the pika populations at high risk of future

With all four seasons prominent throughout the year, Colorado’s climate is ever changing. The climate of my current plot consists of an average temperature of 59.3 °F with rising and falling temperatures with drastic seasonal changes. My plot also consists of an average precipitation of 17in, and an average wind speed being 8.7 mph with the occasional snowfall consisting around 55 in. Furthermore, the fauna around the plot consists of including, squirrels, ducks, and geese. Only a few of the 750 animal species abundant in Colorado. The flora around my plot consists of pussy willows, pines, and aspens all of which make up a small part of Colorado’s 2,600 plant species. The seasonal changes this year to my plot have been less significant than I would have thought, winter in itself had the most change on the plot with the reservoir freezing. This caused the ground to be littered with frost and occasional

The authors eventually discuss the Yellowstone experiment and share their research results. They focus on the northern winter range which is a large mountain terrain that mostly occurs within the northeastern area of Yellowstone National Park. Here, the authors took into consideration annual precipitation and even the average depth of snowpacks. After looking to historical data for the northern range of Yellowstone, Ripple and Beschta evaluated recruitment on aspen and cottonwood over the last two centuries and found that the extirpation of wolves allowed elk to browse unimpeded during winter months. After going over data from Yellowstone after wolf

The first argument examined on the man-made global warning side is that increasing greenhouse gases caused by human activities is causing directly observed climate changes. The first resulting climate change discussed is warming global surface temperature. There has been an increase in global surface temperature of 0.74 degrees C since the late 19th century. In the last 50 years alone the temperature has increased by 0.13 degrees C per decade. North America and Eurasia have seen the largest increase in warmth. However, some areas of the earth have actually cooled some this past century (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para6). After the mid 20th century 70% of the global land mass saw reduced diurnal temperatures. From 1979 to 2005 the maximum and minimum temperatures have shown no change; both indicate warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para10). Furthermore, borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data all seem to agree with recent warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para11).