Resiliency of an Interior Ponderosa Pine Forest to  Bark Beetle Infestations Following Fuel-Reduction and  Forest-Restoration Treatments

Fettig, Christopher J.; McKelvey, Stephen R.

doi:10.3390/f5010153

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The majority of data from replicated, experimental studies supporting thinning as an effective tool for increased resistance to beetles is based on treatment responses to endemic or moderate bark beetle population levels. For instance, 6% of host trees were killed in Larsson et al (1983) and in Fettig and McKelvey (2014). Our study corroborates these previous results and shows that fuel and restoration treatments in ponderosa pine forests that create low-density, faster-growing stands can increase resistance to MPB even under much higher beetle pressure (33% of the host trees killed by MPB).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience

Hood

Baker

Sala

2016

Ecological Applications

104

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Fire frequency in low-elevation coniferous forests in western North America has greatly declined since the late 1800s. In many areas, this has increased tree density and the proportion of shade-tolerant species, reduced resource availability, and increased forest susceptibility to forest insect pests and high-severity wildfire. In response, treatments are often implemented with the goal of increasing ecosystem resilience by increasing resistance to disturbance. We capitalized on an existing replicated study of fire and stand density treatments in a ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)-Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest in western Montana, USA, that experienced a naturally occurring mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak 5 yr after implementation of fuels treatments. We explored whether treatment effects on tree-level defense and stand structure affected resistance to MPB. Mortality from MPB was highest in the denser, untreated control and burn-only treatments, with approximately 50% and 39%, respectively, of ponderosa pine killed during the outbreak, compared to almost no mortality in the thin-only and thin-burn treatments. Thinning treatments, with or without fire, dramatically increased tree growth and resin ducts relative to control and burn-only treatments. Prescribed burning did not increase resin ducts but did cause changes in resin chemistry that may have affected MPB communication and lowered attack success. While ponderosa pine remained dominant in the thin and thin-burn treatments after the outbreak, the high pine mortality in the control and burn-only treatment caused a shift in species dominance to Douglas-fir. The high Douglas-fir component in the control and burn-only treatments due to 20th century fire exclusion, coupled with high pine mortality from MPB, has likely reduced resilience of this forest beyond the ability to return to a ponderosa pine-dominated system in the absence of further fire or mechanical treatment. Our results show treatments designed to increase resistance to high-severity fire in ponderosa pine-dominated forests in the Northern Rockies can also increase resistance to MPB, even during an outbreak. This study suggests that fuel and restoration treatments in fire-dependent ponderosa pine forests that reduce tree density increase ecosystem resilience in the short term, while the reintroduction of fire is important for long-term resilience.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience

Hood

Baker

Sala

2016

Ecological Applications

104

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“…However, increased infestation rates following prescribed burning are typically short lived (i.e. within the first 5 years) and result in limited tree mortality (Stephens et al 2012, Fettig andMcKelvey 2014). Such strong effects a decade following burning are surprising and perhaps another result of the unprecedented severity of the 2012-2016 drought.…”

Section: Pathways To Persistence or Mortalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Do forest fuel reduction treatments confer resistance to beetle infestation and drought mortality?

Steel¹,

Goodwin²,

Meyer³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Climate change is amplifying the frequency and intensity of drought and fire stress in many forests. In the western U.S., fuels reduction treatments, both mechanical and prescribed fire, are widely used to increase resilience to wildfire but their effect on resistance to drought and beetle mortality is not as well understood. We followed more than 10,000 mapped and tagged trees in a mixed-conifer forest following mechanical thinning and/or prescribed burning treatments in 2001 through the extreme 2012-2016 drought in California. Mortality varied by species from 3% of incense cedar to 38% of red fir with proportionally higher mortality rates in the larger size classes for sugar pine, red fir and white fir. Treatment reductions in stem density were associated with increased diameter growth and rapidly growing trees had lower rates of mortality. However, the ultimate effects of treatment on drought-related mortality varied greatly by treatment type. All species had neutral to reduced mortality rates following mechanical thinning alone, but treatments that included prescribed burning increased beetle infestation rates and increased mortality of red fir and especially sugar pine. Fuels reduction treatments appear to benefit some species such as Jeffrey pine but can reduce resistance to extreme drought and beetle outbreaks in other species when treatments include prescribed burning. Overall, even heavy density reduction had only moderate effects on reducing tree mortality possibly because beetle populations from the surrounding fire-suppressed landscape largely overwhelm stand-level treatments attempting to increase tree resistance. In a non-analog future, increasing disturbance frequency and severity in forests destabilized by past management practices, make ecosystem resilience unlikely without significant changes in the pace and scale of forest management practices.

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“…Some attacks begin within days or weeks [9,20], with most occurring in the first two years post-fire [11,13,15,17,18,21]. They attack trees across a wide range of scorch height injury to the bole, and most attacked trees with light to moderate scorch survive, as D. valens colonization does not substantially increase their mortality [1,13,14,18,21,25]. However, a portion of surviving trees are at risk to disease infection, since the external symbiont community vectored by D. valens may include forest pathogens such as Leptographium wageneri (W.B.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They attack trees across a wide range of scorch height injury to the bole, and most attacked trees with light to moderate scorch survive, as D . valens colonization does not substantially increase their mortality [ 1 , 13 , 14 , 18 , 21 , 25 ]. However, a portion of surviving trees are at risk to disease infection, since the external symbiont community vectored by D .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Red turpentine beetle primary attraction to (–)-β-pinene+ethanol in US Pacific Northwest ponderosa pine forests

Kelsey

Westlind

2020

PLoS ONE

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Red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) is a non-aggressive pine bark beetle native to North America, and more aggressive invader in China. Dispersing pioneer beetles are attracted to potential host trees by oleoresin monoterpene kairomones, but respond more strongly to those combined with ethanol, a mixture often released from stressed, dying, or recently dead trees. (+)-3-Carene, usually the dominant or co-dominant monoterpene in ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, is a stronger attractant than α-pinene or β-pinene where tested over a large portion of the D. valens range, while (+)-3-carene+ethanol was shown previously to attract twice the beetles of (+)-3-carene. A field test comparing D. valens attraction among the three monoterpenes when all are released with ethanol has never been reported, and was our objective. In three US Pacific Northwestern pine forests, (-)-β-pinene+ethanol lures attracted 1.4 to 1.9 times more beetles than (+)-3-carene+ethanol. (+)-or (±)-α-pinene+ethanol lures were least attractive. A 1:1:1 monoterpene mixture+ethanol lure attracted more beetles than the 1:1:1 lure, but it was not statistically higher. Monoterpenes were dispensed from low density polyethylene bottles and their release rates monitored in laboratory and field tests. Under laboratory conditions (+)-3-carene was released much more rapidly than (+)-α-pinene or (-)-β-pinene when dispensed separately, or in a 1:1:1 mixture. (+)-3-Carene in the 1:1:1 mixture increased the release of both pinenes over their rates when dispensed separately. (-)-β-Pinene+ethanol is currently the strongest kairomone lure for D. valens attraction in US northwest pine forests, and has value for beetle detection, monitoring, research, and management.

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Resiliency of an Interior Ponderosa Pine Forest to Bark Beetle Infestations Following Fuel-Reduction and Forest-Restoration Treatments

Cited by 26 publications

References 47 publications

Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience

Fortifying the forest: thinning and burning increase resistance to a bark beetle outbreak and promote forest resilience

Do forest fuel reduction treatments confer resistance to beetle infestation and drought mortality?

Red turpentine beetle primary attraction to (–)-β-pinene+ethanol in US Pacific Northwest ponderosa pine forests

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