The Mountain Pine Beetle is a tiny species of bark beetle about 5 mm in length. It is native to western North America from Mexico north to British Columbia, where it is found on
ponderosa,
lodgepole, and
limber pine (
Wikipedia 2012). Significant outbreaks in British Columbia have affected forests in many areas in the interior, resulting in many dead and dying trees. The effects of Mountain Pine beetle are easily spotted as you drive through the interior of the province, and are typified by large areas of reddish brown coloured trees.
Wikipedia (2012) provides the following summary of this species: "Normally, these insects play an important role in the life of a forest, attacking old or weakened trees, and speeding development of a younger forest. However, unusual hot, dry summers and mild winters in central British Columbia during the last few years, along with forests filled with mature lodgepole pine, have led to an unprecedented epidemic.It may be the largest forest insect blight ever seen in North America."
Read the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Resource Operations information page on Mountain Pine Beetle.
Read the University of Alberta Mountain Pine Beetle page.
Read an article by David Suzuki on the Mountain Pine Beetle, and learn about the role of a fungus in the outbreak in BC.
