Thursday, August 16, 2007

Beetle Mania

Apparently, by 2013, 80% of British Columbia's pine forests will be wiped out due to our lovely Mountain Pine Beetle infestation. Now, the beetle is spreading into Alberta.

The devastation caused by this pest cannot be over-exaggerated or under-estimated. They are adaptable somewhat, even moving into spruce trees, which have their own beetle, too. For a province that relies heavily on forestry for industrial, recreational, and aesthetic purposes, the pine beetle and its rapid spread (nearly 11 million hectares so far) is an extreme danger to BC's future.

Telltale swaths of red, dead trees are now commonplace around the province. Although trees that have been killed are still fine for logging purposes, one day it will catch up with us. Logging quotas have been increased for many companies, but surely this isn't the most viable way of dealing with the infestation. Selective burning is being utilized. Spraying would be controversial and expensive.

The biggest thing we need to do: curb climate change. Mild winters and hot, dry summers are the main factors contributing to our current pine beetle epidemic. It is the only long term, viable solution.

For more information:
BC Ministry of Forestry beetle page
Parks Canada beetle page

8 comments:

mister anchovy said...

I had no idea the problem was that severe, WC. Thank you for the excellent post!

Wandering Coyote said...

Oh, it's really, really bad. Scary bad, in fact. They have lots of natural predators, too, but there are just so many beetles that the predators can't keep up.

Candy Minx said...

An excellent post...I am so sad to hear of this...

that is also...one ugly bug. The logging companies probably imported the bugs...


The photo of the missing trees on the mountain reminded me very much of living in B.C. as a kid.

Wandering Coyote said...

Actually, Candy, the bugs were always here, according the the BC Forestry site. I assumed they were an introduced pest, too, but they aren't. It's the weather that's caused them to reproduce so rapidly.

Gardenia said...

Exactly right. Wyoming's forests are being devastated by the pine beetle as well. They also cause unwanted fires that take out homes and cabins. They say its because the winters aren't cold enough to kill them - but last winter was so much below zero and lasted from October through part of June...maybe they've adapted after a few warmer winters - who knows - like where are the bees? Who knows?

Metro said...

Actually, I'm hearing mumbles that 30 percent might be low.

One of the reasons they're so prolific is that we don't allow forest fires to burn free anymore. Not that I, dweller in the hot zone myself, want to see that done, but fire kills the beetles quite effectively. Our regime of preventing fire, and doing so increasingly effectively in far more remote parts of the province, helps them thrive.

Lola said...

Thanks for the excellent post. Climate change has a more far-reaching effect than most people care to know.

mister anchovy said...

Gardenia - the bees are all in my backyard, along with the wasps and hornets. Southern Ontario bees seem to be OK and they sure are thriving around my flowers. I've heard that numbers are low in some areas of the States.