tvashtarkatena Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Tree deaths in the West and climate change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtn_mouse Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Blame the Scolytidae family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billcoe Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Could be a combo of both warm weather and : Â Â However, last year was sooo cold for soooo long. Hope the last winter did some winter kill on those insects. Â This was last 4th of July weekend (my new feather friends coat my brother bought for my birthday came in handy). Â Â I saw that story, and have been seeing some of the tree die off, even as close as the 1-205/Camas interchange - pretty disturbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 burn baby burn... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Water stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Stuff like the mountain pine beetle is affected by heat during the growing season. Longer warm weather and less cold cold snaps in the winter lead to lots of beetle breeding. The beetle has been here forever, but long term climate has made the beetle go nuts. Mountain pine beetle is currently going wild in inland BC.  City American elm trees in the NW have recently been effected by the elm bark beetle. It sure took the little guy a long time to travel from the east to the west of the continent. I remember spotting some of the first dutch elm disease in the area during the 90s. That got brought here by shipping containers from Europe.  Shipping containers with bugs have mostly killed off the American chestnut. American chestnuts used to be the dominant trees in eastern mountains.  One of the most recent bad bugs is the emerald ash borer. Right now it's wrecking native ash trees in the mid west and east. Here's a map of affected areas.  [img:center]http://www.emeraldashborer.info/images/USA.gif[/img]  This is what it does  [img:center]http://www.ingham.org/CE/hort/eab2.jpg[/img]  This is what it looks like  [img:center]http://www.ars.usda.gov/images/docs/4082_4266/Emerald%20ash%20borer_male.jpg[/img]  It is yet again another insect that was brought to the Midwest in shipping containers. Since it arrived it spread. You'll see a lot of posters saying don't move firewood. This is part of the reason.  Obviously the NW is a long way away, but just like dutch elm disease things spread. Oregon Ash trees are native to the NW, but several varieties of green ash are commonly planted as street trees in many cities.  Longer average warm climate gives all these little fuckers longer seasons to breed and spread.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Water stress. likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 I was at a forestry conference this week in NorCal and there were a number of presentations on tree destroying insects. The writing on the wall is twofold: 1. We need to manage forests better so that tree densities arent off the charts (high density=nutrient stress=less ability to fight disease/insects...). And I am not particularly advocating logging as a solution. Controlled underburns and thinning are amazing tools that, long term, could reduce to near zero the occurrence of catastrophic wildfire. Most of these pests are occuring in areas where fire regimes are short. 2. Due to the intensity of tree death from various pathogens, the forests of the US and Canadia are now a CARBON SOURCE. Trees break down/burn, they release carbon, and accelerate climate change. A solution is mandatory, a MASSIVE change on a federal level(since that is who owns half the forests in the US) is necessary, and it it has to be eff'n soon. Â On a side note, the pine beetle outbreaks are nearing their end. A pheremone impregnated plastic confetti is almost ready to go to federal approval. The pheremone can be used to control the movement of the beetles and reduce the outbreaks to natural levels (the little beasties are native to North America after all.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TREETOAD Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 You should see the interior of BC. There has been a lack of sustained cold weather in the winters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dechristo Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Water stress. Â Soon, here in the States, this will be denoted as torture and outlawed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TREETOAD Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 That is watercress dummy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dechristo Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 bummer, I like watercress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike1 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 A solution is mandatory, a MASSIVE change on a federal level(since that is who owns half the forests in the US) is necessary, and it it has to be eff'n soon. Fire control instead of fire suppression can begin now. What’s the hold up?  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111 Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 USFS internal policy(The BLM and Park Service already have implemented some "let it burn" policy change), and public acceptance I would guess. I think more has been done on the public acceptance front than the internal policy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marylou Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Idaho's getting et up by those pine beetles. I won't be surprised if the White Clouds lose all of their trees eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.