The Beetles Revolution

Mountain pine beetles fueling climate change via tree deaths

Posted at 9:38 AM on 24 Apr 2008

Ravenous populations of mountain pine beetles in Canada's forests are contributing significantly to climate change through killing off large numbers of trees, according to a study in the journal Nature. So far, the beetles have killed trees in over 50,000 square miles of forests in western Canada, and hundreds of thousands of square miles in the western United States. "When trees are killed, they no longer are able to take carbon from the atmosphere. Then when dead trees start to decompose, that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," said study coauthor Werner Kurz. The study estimates that by 2020, beetle-killed trees in Canada could release some 270 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. "This is the kind of feedback we're all very worried about in the carbon cycle -- a warming planet leading to, in this case, an insect outbreak that increases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which can increase warming," said Andy Jacobson of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

sources: Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse

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Comments: (5 comments)

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hysteria

slow-growing mature evergreen trees will be replaced by rapid-growing deciduous trees and shrubbery

net carbon fixation

evergreens won't grow in warmer climate anyway

welcome to the homogecene (www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/378212)

all that mixing between continents will lead to a new world order

by wackatalpidae at 10:35 AM on 24 Apr 2008

It might make some sense

to speed up the process of recreating forests by hiring tree planters to put in deciduous starter trees. There are many species that might survive the cold winters and shorter growing seasons. Plant what used to thrive in the the New England forests. The dominant species of forest trees in any location has always changed with the climate. Humans can help the process.

by catman at 1:05 PM on 24 Apr 2008

Pine Beetle Cycle

We are having a problem with Pine Beetles BECAUSE of warming trends - if you want to say climate change. Killing the Pine Beetles is but a bandaide - and in doing so we're using a lot jet fuel as helicopters sling the invested trees out of the forest that the people cut down to be burned. There's more to this story ...

by lslynes at 9:47 AM on 28 Apr 2008

Pine beetle kills all over Montana

The warming trends are definitely hitting MT really bad, which leads to wildfires, which leads to pine beetle destruction. It is a vicious cycle that sadly mankind is responsible for.

"For as long as space endures, and for as long as living beings remain, until then may I too abide, to dispel the misery of the world." - Shantideva

by mtvyfan at 8:29 AM on 29 Apr 2008

protecting endangered species

From Colorado University Extension (http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05528.html)...

"Natural controls of mountain pine beetle include woodpeckers and insects such as clerid beetles that feed on adults and larvae under the bark."

and

"In general, MPB prefers forests that are old and dense. Managing the forest by creating diversity in age and structure with result in a healthy forest that will be more resilient and, thus, less vulnerable to MPB."

This brings to mind "conservatives" who make fun of ecologists and efforts to preserve threatened species no one but ecologists or other scientists have ever heard of. Investment in protecting the species that consume pine beetles might have been more financially responsible than allowing nature to go to hell in a hand basket and then praying that the free market will fix everything. I'm sure someone complained about jobs being lost, but how many jobs will be there when the natural forests are completely devastated?

What I'm wondering about now is how many economically valuable species -- though "conservatives" might consider them useless -- that prefer open forests and eat pesky critters like pine beetles are being driven to extinction because of decades of suppressing natural fires. I'm sure someone has the answer. And I hope -- hope is apparently all we have left as a natural resource in the good old USA -- current management of federal land favors the natural pattern of old and new growth in forests and grasslands.

A responsible "conservative" government interested in preserving our natural resources, preserving jobs, economic growth, and national security would fund the research necessary for understanding every element of natural ecological systems and pass appropriate laws so we can preserve the whole for all citizens, especially those not yet born.

by wiscidea at 10:07 AM on 29 Apr 2008

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