As climate warms, bark beetles march on high-elevation forests

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.news.wisc.edu/21388

[font face=Serif][font size=5]As climate warms, bark beetles march on high-elevation forests[/font]

Dec. 31, 2012 | by Terry Devitt

[font size=3]Trees and the insects that eat them wage constant war. Insects burrow and munch; trees deploy lethal and disruptive defenses in the form of chemicals.

But in a warming world, where temperatures and seasonal change are in flux, the tide of battle may be shifting in some insects’ favor, according to a new study.

In a report published today (Dec. 31, 2012) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison reports a rising threat to the whitebark pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains as native mountain pine beetles climb ever higher, attacking trees that have not evolved strong defenses to stop them.

The whitebark pine forests of the western United States and Canada are the forest ecosystems that occur at the highest elevation that sustains trees. It is critical habitat for iconic species such as the grizzly bear and plays an important role in governing the hydrology of the mountain west by shading snow and regulating the flow of meltwater.

…[/font][/font]

http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1216666110

[mike_c]

1. whitebark pine is in trouble from a number of sources....

Not only mountain pine beetle, but fungal pathogens, range decline, fire, and increasing competition are all hammering whitebark pine populations.

[bongbong]

2. the repig idea to solve this problem

Issue assault rifles to the trees and have them shoot at the insects.