|
Rocky Mountain Bark Beetle Infestation
The current bark beetle infestation in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States was first detected in 1996. It involved the Mountain pine beetle, which has since spread across millions of acres of dense forest land. In addition, Spruce beetle populations have also been growing in the area in recent years and are further contributing to the existing outbreak. One of the main factors limiting bark beetle population growth is the temperature they can survive at and climate change has raised the average temperature in the region resulting in warmer winters and hotter, drier summers. This not only sped up the bark beetle reproduction process by providing more time per year for them to complete their developmental stages (at lower elevations they now often complete generations in one year instead of two), moisture stressing due to hotter temperatures also weakens the trees’ defense against attacks by reducing resin production. Furthermore, forest management has also played a signif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bark Beetle
A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculionidae). Although the term "bark beetle" refers to the fact that many species feed in the inner bark (phloem) layer of trees, the subfamily also has many species with other lifestyles, including some that bore into wood, feed in fruit and seeds, or tunnel into herbaceous plants. Well-known species are members of the type genus ''Scolytus'', namely the European elm bark beetle ''S. multistriatus'' and the large elm bark beetle ''S. scolytus'', which like the American elm bark beetle ''Hylurgopinus rufipes'', transmit Dutch elm disease fungi (''Ophiostoma''). The mountain pine beetle ''Dendroctonus ponderosae'', southern pine beetle ''Dendroctonus frontalis'', and their near relatives are major pests of conifer forests in North America. A similarly aggressive spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Depending on differing definitions between Canada and the U.S., its northern terminus is located either in northern British Columbia's Terminal Range south of the Liard River and east of the Trench, or in the northeastern foothills of the Brooks Range/ British Mountains that face the Beaufort Sea coasts between the Canning River and the Firth River across the Alaska-Yukon border. Its southernmost point is near the Albuquerque area adjacent to the Rio Grande rift and north of the Sandia–Manzano Mountain Range. Being the easternmost portion of the North American Cordillera, the Rockies are distinct from the tectonically younger Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada, which both lie farther to its west. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain Pine Beetle
The mountain pine beetle (''Dendroctonus ponderosae'') is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia. It has a hard black exoskeleton, and measures approximately , about the size of a grain of rice. In western North America, a recent outbreak of the mountain pine beetle and its microbial associates has affected wide areas of lodgepole pine forest, including more than of forest in British Columbia. The outbreak in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado began in 1996 and has caused the destruction of millions of acres/hectares of ponderosa and lodgepole pine trees. At the peak of the outbreak in 2009, over were affected. The outbreak then declined due to better environmental conditions and the fact that many vulnerable trees had been already destroyed. Mountain pine beetles inhabit ponderosa, whitebark, lodgepole, Scots, jack, limber, Rocky Mountain bristlecone, and Great Basin bristlecone pine tre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendroctonus Rufipennis
''Dendroctonus rufipennis'', the spruce beetle, is a species of bark beetle native to British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Northern Manitoba, the Yukon, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Maine. They are known to destroy forests of spruce trees including Engelmann, White, Sitka, and Colorado blue spruce. Adults average 4 to 7 mm in length. Life cycle The spruce beetle ''Dendroctonus rufipennis'' Kirby (formerly ''D. obesus'' Mannerheim ( ''D. engelmanni'' Hopk.), about 6 mm long, is one of the larger bark beetles found in spruce (Rose and Lindquist 1985).Rose, A.H.; Lindquist, O.H. 1985. Insects of eastern spruces, fir and, hemlock, revised edition. Gov’t Can., Can. For. Serv., Ottawa, For. Tech. Rep. 23. 159 p. (cited in Coates et al. 1994, cited orig ed 1977) White spruce and Engelmann spruce are the principal hosts (Wygant and Lejeune 1967).Wygant, N.D.; Lejeune, R.R. 1967. Engelmann spruce beetle ''Dendroctonus obesus'' (Mann.) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Climate Change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth's climate. The current rise in global average temperature is more rapid than previous changes, and is primarily caused by humans burning fossil fuels. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices increase greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight. Larger amounts of these gases trap more heat in Earth's lower atmosphere, causing global warming. Due to climate change, deserts are expanding, while heat waves and wildfires are becoming more common. Increased warming in the Arctic has contributed to melting permafrost, glacial retreat and sea ice loss. Higher temperatures are also causing m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Resin
In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on naturally occurring resins. Plants secrete resins for their protective benefits in response to injury. The resin protects the plant from insects and pathogens. Resins confound a wide range of herbivores, insects, and pathogens, while the volatile phenolic compounds may attract benefactors such as parasitoids or predators of the herbivores that attack the plant. Composition Most plant resins are composed of terpenes. Specific components are alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, delta-3 carene, and sabinene, the monocyclic terpenes limonene and terpinolene, and smaller amounts of the tricyclic sesquiterpenes, longifolene, caryophyllene, and delta-cadinene. Some resins also contain a high proportion of resin acids. Rosins on the other hand are less ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bark Beetle
A bark beetle is the common name for the subfamily of beetles Scolytinae. Previously, this was considered a distinct family (Scolytidae), but is now understood to be a specialized clade of the "true weevil" family (Curculionidae). Although the term "bark beetle" refers to the fact that many species feed in the inner bark (phloem) layer of trees, the subfamily also has many species with other lifestyles, including some that bore into wood, feed in fruit and seeds, or tunnel into herbaceous plants. Well-known species are members of the type genus ''Scolytus'', namely the European elm bark beetle ''S. multistriatus'' and the large elm bark beetle ''S. scolytus'', which like the American elm bark beetle ''Hylurgopinus rufipes'', transmit Dutch elm disease fungi (''Ophiostoma''). The mountain pine beetle ''Dendroctonus ponderosae'', southern pine beetle ''Dendroctonus frontalis'', and their near relatives are major pests of conifer forests in North America. A similarly aggressive spe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Six
Diana L. Six is a forest entomologist and professor at the University of Montana. Her research focuses primarily on bark beetle ecology and forest adaptation to climate change. Six is the recipient of the 2018 Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer Award, has presented at TEDx, and has been featured in National Geographic among other nationally recognized media. Education Six grew up in Upland, California, where she spent her childhood discovering her passion for beetles and fungi through exploring the woods of Southern California. Also growing up with a rough home life, Six initially dropped out of high school. However, she decided to go back, as she graduated from Upland High School, before attending community college. As a first-generation college student, Diana Six began her higher education at Chaffey College, where she found her passion for science in a biology course she took in her first semester. She earned her Associate of Science Degree in General Microbiol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beetle Kill In Colorado
The mountain pine beetle has killed large numbers of the lodgepole pine trees in the northern mountains of the US state of Colorado. The more recent outbreak of another bark beetle pest, the spruce beetle, is threatening higher-elevation forests of Engelmann spruce. Chemical prevention is effective but too costly for large-scale use. Dead trees increase the incidence of wildfires. Uses have been found for the dead wood including composting and in construction, and potentially to make biochar. Statistics Mountain pine beetles infest the lodgepole pine, which makes up 8% of Colorado's of forests. Lodgepole pines are found at elevations between . A previous notable outbreak occurred in Colorado in the 1970s but was significantly less detrimental than the current infestation. Of the of lodgepole pine, about 70% have been damaged. High temperatures have allowed beetle infestations at higher elevations. According to a recent study, pine beetles have expanded their infestation by . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Disasters In The United States
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent. It can also be subdivided according to its attributes. Examples include the marine environment, the atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment. The number of biophysical environments is countless, given that each living organism has its own environment. The term ''environment'' can refer to a singular global environment in relation to humanity, or a local biophysical environment, e.g. the UK's Environment Agency. Life-environment interaction All life that has survived must have adapted to the conditions of its environment. Temperature, light, humidity, soil nutrients, etc., all influence the species within an environment. However, life in turn modifies, in various forms, its conditions. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Effects Of Climate Change
The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea level, as well as weather and climate extreme events. The changes in climate are not uniform across the Earth. In particular, most land areas have warmed faster than most ocean areas, and the Arctic is warming faster than most other regions. The regional changes vary: at high latitudes it is the average temperature that is increasing, while for the oceans and tropics it is in particular the rainfall and the water cycle where changes are observed. The magnitude of future impacts of climate change can be reduced by climate change mitigation and adaptation. Climate change has degraded land by raising temperatures, drying soils and increasing wildfire risk. Recent warming has strongly affected natural biological systems. Species worldwide are mig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect Pests Of Temperate Forests
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes and one pair of antennae. Their blood is not totally contained in vessels; some circulates in an open cavity known as the haemocoel. Insects are the most diverse group of animals; they include more than a million described species and represent more than half of all known living organisms. The total number of extant species is estimated at between six and ten million; In: potentially over 90% of the animal life forms on Earth are insects. Insects may be found in nearly all environments, although only a small number of species reside in the oceans, which are dominated by another arthropod group, crustaceans, which recent research has indicated insects are nested within. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. Insect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Resin")
