What’s Killing the Great Forests of the American West?

[defendandprotect]

What’s Killing the Great
Forests of the American West?

Across western North America, huge tracts of forest are dying off at an extraordinary rate, mostly because of outbreaks of insects. Scientists are now seeing such forest die-offs around the world and are linking them to changes in climate. by jim robbins

For many years, Diana Six, an entomologist at the University of Montana, planned her field season for the same two to three weeks in July. That’s when her quarry — tiny, black, mountain pine beetles — hatched from the tree they had just killed and swarmed to a new one to start their life cycle again.

Now, says Six, the field rules have changed. Instead of just two weeks, the beetles fly continually from May until October, attacking trees, burrowing in, and laying their eggs for half the year. And that’s not all. The beetles rarely attacked immature trees; now they do so all the time. What’s more, colder temperatures once kept the beetles away from high altitudes, yet now they swarm and kill trees on mountaintops. And in some high places where the beetles had a two-year life cycle because of cold temperatures, it’s decreased to one year.

Such shifts make it an exciting — and unsettling — time to be an entomologist. The growing swath of dead lodgepole and ponderosa pine forest is a grim omen, leaving Six — and many other scientists and residents in the West — concerned that as the climate continues to warm, these destructive changes will intensify.


http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2252


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Patriarchy's Capitalism is an exploitive system, both of nature and humanity --

and in such it is suicidal -- i.e., "Manifest Destiny" and "Man's Dominion Over Nature"

are suicidal.

Whatever it is based on... self hatred, lack of self, lack of love, a desire to control --

we don't seem to understand how to stop the suicidal violence of patriarchy!

They will take us with them!!

[kenny blankenship]

1. This has the knock on effect of stressing grizzly bear populations

who depend partly on pine nuts -as unlikely as that sounds- to bulk up for winter hibernation.

Of course that's just one of the consequences to the ecosystem.

[villager]

2. In some areas, wasn't pine over-planted in 2nd growth forests, to create "tree farms"

...for the timber industry?

In other words, are these beetles as destructive in forests of mixed growth, etc.?

Conversely, in naturally occurring pine forests, what species replace the beetle-ravaged pines? Or are forests becoming "savannah" in these areas?

[reggie the dog]

3. there have been mass die offs of trees near where my father in law

has his farm in France, moving higher and higher up the hills out of the rhone valley, at any rate it rains a lot here and the forest grows back as weeds, bushes, ferns and pine trees mixed, which if not mowed grows back into mixed hardwood/softwood forests..

[opihimoimoi]

4. Lets find some answers asap....get some beetle proof trees planted

sumpthin....

[NeedleCast]

5. Wait, what? "Patriarchy's Capitalism" has what to do with an abundance of tree eating beetles?

I've seen stretches before...this may be a new record.

[Confusious]

6. Don't stop him, he's on a roll

We didn't give up when the Germans attacked Yellowstone did we?