The Southern Pine Beetle Perspective Biology Symbioses Dynamics Management Jiri Hulcr
Perspective Bark beetles
Perspective Bark beetles mass attack
Perspective Bark beetles The Mountain Pine Beetle British Colombia, 2011
Perspective Bark beetles The European Spruce Beetle Germany, 201o
Perspective Bark beetles The Southern Pine Beetle Texas, 1984
Perspective Bark beetles There are about a) 5 b) 25 c) 50 d) 100.. bark beetle species in the Austin Cary forest. Of those, approximately a) 5 b) 10 c) 50 d) 90... are pests.
Perspective Few are pests Bark beetles Most are harmless Hylurgini: Tomicus Dendroctonus
Dendroctonus Dendroctonus adjunctus Dendroctonus approximatus Dendroctonus brevicomis Dendroctonus frontalis Dendroctonus jeffreyi Dendroctonus mexicanus Dendroctonus murrayanae Dendroctonus ponderosae Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Dendroctonus punctatus Dendroctonus rufipennis Dendroctonus simplex Dendroctonus terebrans Dendroctonus valens Dendroctonus vitei = tree killer Western pine beetle Southern pine beetle Mountain pine beetle Spruce bark beetle Black turpentine beetle Red turpentine beetle Only two in FL
Dendroctonus = tree killer Huge recent damages in the West
Dendroctonus British Colombia is now a net C producer Huge recent damages in the West
Southern pine beetle - biology Dendroctonus frontalis The smallest of Dendroctonus The fastest-reproducing Only attacks living trees
Southern pine beetle - biology Dendroctonus frontalis Only in the South and South East
Southern pine beetle - biology Very uneven distribution Lots of spatial autocorrelation
Southern pine beetle - biology Florida: Not in South FL!
Ronald F. Billings, Texas Forest Service Southern pine beetle - biology Similar species on pine in SE USA: Black turpentine beetle Ips (3 species) Southern pine beetle Black turpentine beetle
Southern pine beetle - biology Fungi essential players: Larvae feed on a fungus, not on phloem!
Southern pine beetle - biology Fungi essential players: Larvae feed on a fungus, not on phloem! But the blue stain fungi kill them!
Southern pine beetle - biology Primary host: Loblolly pine Also used hosts: pitch, slash, virginia, other pines Bad hosts: longleaf pine, other conifer genera Attack probability changes with age 0 20 40 60
Dynamics - complex Mass-attack started by: lightning strike fire or other injury 1. Females attracted by host stress volatiles 2. Females produce pheromones to attract males and more females 3. Males produce repellents 4. Arriving beetles diverted to neighboring trees
Dynamics - complex Mass-attack started by: lightning strike fire or other injury Formation of a spot
Dynamics - complex the spot
Dynamics - complex Mass-attack started by: lightning strike fire or other injury formation of a spot contributing factors: previous outbreaks stand age and density colonization decline: predator and parasitoid build-up exhaustion of susceptible hosts cold no clear effect on SPB dynamics: pine genotype rain/draught
Dynamics modeling, predictions Mechanistic models of tree and beetle population dynamics + + - - prediction of standlevel dynamics locally useful small scale difficult to parametrize TAMBEETLE, Coulson et al 1989
Dynamics - periodic - predator-controlled - spatial autocorrelation - these are large-scale processes!
Dynamics - periodic - predator-controlled - spatial autocorrelation - these are large-scale processes! Until this day, no method exists to predict or even explain most SPB outbreaks.
Dynamics The best we have: Forest Service hazard maps
Management My tree is dying, what do I spray it with? Dying tree = dead tree Insecticides in forestry: - hard to get them into trees - kill natural enemies
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. 4) Suppression Long-term prevention of pest damage by managing the ecosystem
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. - happy forest 4) Suppression - diverse - appropriate species to the site - uneven-aged - thinned - remove infected pines - BUT leave dead uninfected pines
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention - happy forest 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. Find a ballance 4) Suppression Yield monoculture ----> natural forest Resilience against pest outbreaks
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. 4) Suppression Pheromone trap
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. 4) Suppression Aerial surveys Florida Forest Service
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. 4) Suppression The southern pine beetle Ips engravers Black turpentine beetle versus: similar symptoms, but no outbreaks!
Management Integrated Pest Management 1) Prevention 2) Monitoring 3) Correct pest ID. 4) Suppression Salvage Insecticides Repellents More on management: Jeff Eickwort s lecture!
Management New lessons for SPB Management: 1) Find a balance between yield and resilience Yield Resilience against pest outbreaks Contemporary role of forest entomology! monoculture ----------> natural forest
Management New lessons for SPB Management: 1) Find a balance between yield and resilience 2) Know your insect enemies and allies 3) Leave dead, post-beetle trees on site Test: what do you do with this tree that was killed 6 months ago?
Questions?