Pine-beetle epidemic heading south ( looking for new trees to destroy )

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ^ | August 27, 2006 | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

[george76]

Millions of mountain pine beetles are swarming the Rocky Mountains...looking for new trees to destroy.

The Colorado State Forest Service wants residents to help stop the spread of the devastating pest before the Pike and San Isabel national forests take on a brown cast like those in Summit and Grand counties.

"It's currently at an epidemic level," ...

Dead trees are a sign the forest is unhealthy; they also pose a fire risk. The U.S. Forest Service...

Trees are succumbing by the millions.

"If the beetle is successful in getting underneath the bark of the tree, mama mates and burrows up the stem of the tree, laying eggs every so often," Root said. "Those are going to hatch. Over the next winter and spring, they'll go through the life cycle and be ready to emerge as new adults next July."

As the bugs burrow in, they feed on the tree's "pipes" that feed it water and nutrients from the roots to the crown.

The bugs also carry a fungus called blue stain that clogs the tree's arteries.

"The tree will stay green until next June when it's ready to break dormancy," ...

"When it can't get water from the roots to the noodle, it's going to turn brown all of a sudden."

That's why people looking for infestations should target green trees, not brown ones.

If a tree is healthy enough, it will produce pitch, or sap, that gums up entries and pushes the beetle out.

But some aren't healthy. Signs a tree is infested include globs of tree sap that resemble popcorn, or sawdust in bark crevices and at the tree's base.

The best treatment, he said, is proper forest management, including thinning.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Parasitic nematodes might work as a control agent. (Steinernamatid Spp) Possibly parasitic wasps. They both parasitize grubs. Some parasitic nematodes will move around and look for prey. They Deposit their eggs in the grub, they hatch, the grub is eaten from the inside. They don't hurt animals or humans. Pine beetles are listed as a target population. (This variety of nematodes also take care of cut worms, white grubs and mole crickets too.) Unlike pesticides, which cant get inside the trunk, and has to be periodically reapplied, these biological controls reproduce as long as the food supply exists.

For a picture and information:

http://www.biologicco.com/orgpage.htm

and

http://www.vintagerosery.com/bugs.htm

[OKSooner]

Later reference.

[george76]

Wow.

Will Parasitic nematodes work as a control agent for millions of trees ?

Forester is good at this stuff.

.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I suppose that if you are willing to spend the money to buy them and spray them. Some lab has to raise them first. You need to spray them on at some time when the bark is wet or they just dry up. Maybe forester has some idea.

[Carry_Okie]

Interesting post, thank you. I do have a few questions though.

AFIK, there is no such thing as a biocontrol that destroys its host. It can reduce an infestation, but will help only if the trees are capable of fighting back. Given the usual USFS ridiculous stand density, it is unlikely that these trees are in very good condition. Is that the case in this instance?

I didn't note from the article, but are these Afghan pine beetles? If they are, they should be eradicated if possible, not merely treated.

Thinning the forest can reduce the water competition that seriously degrades the sap flow that the tree uses to defend itself from beetle attack. I note you didn't mention that. Why not? Wouldn't a selective thinning, removal of infested trees, and low-temperature burn help the trees fight back?

Finally, one would need an enormous count of these worms to do serious damage to an advanced infestation (which, because of the bureaucratic delay inherent to government forest management, this probably is), isn't what you are describing more appropriate to preventative and early treatment rather than an advanced case?

Thanks.

[Doctor Stochastic]

I watched these beetles destroy the pines and piñons of the Big Bend National Park then a few years later I watched them destroy almost all the piñons of New Mexico. They have to be stopped in the early phases; once they are established, the forests are generally goners.

Rain helps. The trees fight the beetles by secreting sap. No rain means little sap and the beetles win.

I did lose 13 or 14 trees in my yard in New Mexico in just a couple of months. (FEMA removed them though but I had to promise not to plant evergreens, only deciduous.)

Say goodbye to the trees.

[george76]

You made a great find....

IMO.

Thank you for passing it on to us.

Hopefully this is another partial solution to this mess.

On a similar topic, I have read that the scientific community has found a beetle that eats Tamarisk ( aka Salt Cedar ). This is an imported plant/tree that has been messing with our water supply, rivers, lakes...and hurting native trees like Cottonwoods...and hurting native wildlife.

Some beetles are killed by ants, but I understand that these beetle are doing well against the Tamarisks.

Do you have any further information on these beetles ?

[Carry_Okie]

I suppose that if you are willing to spend the money to buy them and spray them.

I would think spraying worms would have to be a low shear application which might preclude aerial spraying (also significant oxidation during deposition). I have read about ground spray application of nematodes but not by air. Do you know about this?

[george76]

Is the best option for a "healthy forest" ( now ) to remove as many dying trees that are infested as soon as possible ?

I understand that to help pay for the clean up, it is best to do it promptly to keep the economic value of the dead trees higher.

If the mills and loggers can make money, then the forest clean up will not cost the taxpayers as much money.

[concrete is my business]

British Columbia Canada is really infested too.

The mills and loggers have not had an easy time making money off of pine beetle wood (I think the heavy blue staining that is present in the lumber is OK structurally up to a point).

One of the better plans I have heard is to harvest the trees and make wood pellets for pellet stoves because that wood is going to burn anyhow.

[ClaireSolt]

The gall of judges just amazes me. There is no subject that is outside their field of expertise.

[Tench_Coxe]

Controlled burn.

[RichardW]

I lost three of these pines to these things and you don't know it until they are already too far gone. I've got one left. And the bad thing is that the trees have to come down immediately or they can break in the middle and land on your house. That's why it is dangerous to build your house in the middle of a pine forrest. This was is in East Texas.

[Carry_Okie]

Is the best option for a "healthy forest" ( now ) to remove as many dying trees that are infested as soon as possible ?

"Best" usually varies by location. I don't pretend expertise.

I understand that to help pay for the clean up, it is best to do it promptly to keep the economic value of the dead trees higher.

This is true of dead trees generally, but I would expect redwood and cedar are exceptions.

If the mills and loggers can make money, then the forest clean up will not cost the taxpayers as much money.

The sad part is that loggers are now few and far between. It may have something to do with being unemployed six months a year due to regulations.

[george76]

Adult mountain pine beetles prefer large diameter trees, according to the Canadian Forest Service.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684085/posts

Adult mountain pine beetles prefer large diameter trees, according to the Canadian Forest Service.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1684085/posts

[george76]

Removing big dead trees near your home is an excellent idea.

Building a defensible area around your home is also a good idea for fire protection. The local fire dept should offer some good ideas.

Sorry about your three trees. Hopefully you made lumber or firewood from them.

[ntnychik]

Dr. Bug and I were happy to see selective logging in the Black Hills of S.D. last week. Also, the "fuel" on the forest floor is being stacked up in teepee shapes, to be controlled burned in the winter. The forest was beautiful. Dr. Bug attributes the pine beetle problem in other states to drought.

[george76]

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thanks to all for responding. To be clear about my expertise, I am a gardener, not an entomologist not a forester.

I used predatory nematodes ("PN") in my garden, my lawns and on my pine trees. The white grubs were almost eliminated from the garden. (Visual census comparing the first year tilling with the 2nd and 3rd year tilling.) I don't currently have problems with lawn grubs. This area has problems with pine borers so I sprayed as a preventative. The trees look better than they have in years but I can't tell you with certainty that they were suffering from an infestation to begin with. I do note that the sites linked to above specifically list pine borers as a controlled pest

"Given the usual USFS ridiculous stand density, it is unlikely that these trees are in very good condition...
Thinning the forest can reduce the water competition that seriously degrades the sap flow that the tree uses to defend itself from beetle attack. I note you didn't mention that. Why not? Wouldn't a selective thinning, removal of infested trees, and low-temperature burn help the trees fight back?"

I would think that use of PN does not take the place of good forest management. Monoculture and crowding of stands of lumber or fields of vegetables favors insect and disease transmission. They should thin crowded stands. We should hang on to some old growth, but I don't have a problem raising trees for or using lumber. (From a carpenter's son, and former carpenter and cabinet maker.) Again, PN is a biological control, I doubt that either it or any chemical controls would be 100 percent effective. At some point a forest may be so badly damaged that it should be clear cut or burned.

"are these Afghan pine beetles"

Mountain pine beetles according to the article.

Re aerial application, oxidation, etc;

For gardens and lawns PN is supposed to be sprayed in low light, high moisture, and cooler temperature conditions. PN survive well in highly oxygenated water. You are instructed to water them into lawns after applications. Before I sprayed my pine trees I sprayed down the bark as high as I could reach while standing on a ladder. I cant provide specs on aerial application, but I would guess that cloudy conditions at the end of a rainy day would be the best conditions. This is probably something that forest management experts should discuss with the bio labs that raise PN.

"one would need an enormous count of these worms to do serious damage to an advanced infestation."

I suppose--not know--that since the nematodes are parasitizing the grubs that their numbers will increase to match the available food source. They may not do well in dry or extremely cold conditions, which could suppress their numbers.

Hopefully this, or some other control measure will be effective.

[calljack]

You sound like a knowledgable gardner.
How do I get rid of the crickets in my yard?