2013 - Mountain Pine Beetle Ecology Program Research – Practitioner Information Exchange Forum April 24, 25, 2013
Can community interactions mediate mountain pine beetle responses to fire? Crisia Tabacaru1, Jane Park2, and Nadir Erbilgin1 1
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta Parks Canada
2
Abstract The mountain pine beetle is a significant threat to Alberta’s lodgepole pine and prescribed fires are used to kill potential host trees. However, physiologically stressed trees may be more susceptible to colonization and fire leaves partially burned, stressed trees that may contribute to MPB population growth and allow the beetles to overwhelm otherwise healthy adjacent trees. The change in stem-colonizing insects in a burned stand, and most importantly the responses of MPB natural enemies and competitors to prescribed fire, are likely important factors in understanding MPB-fire interactions, as they may act as mediators. We used three types of traps to monitors stem-colonizing insect numbers in burned and adjacent unburned areas, while also monitoring mountain pine beetle colonization over 3 years post-fire. Although mountain pine beetles colonized more burned trees throughout the three years following a fire, other bark beetles may be superior competitors, albeit later arrivals, and may be suppressing population expansion, as evidenced by decreasing mountain pine beetle colonization in the burned area. Notes: