Year Published:
Cataloging Information
Hot Topic(s):
Topic(s):
Fire Ecology
Fire & Bark Beetles
Fire & Wildlife
Invertebrates
Mountain pine beetles
Fire & Bark Beetles
Fire & Wildlife
Invertebrates
Mountain pine beetles
Ecosystem(s):
Subalpine wet spruce-fir forest, Subalpine dry spruce-fir forest, Montane wet mixed-conifer forest, Montane dry mixed-conifer forest
NRFSN number: 12129
FRAMES RCS number: 14734
Record updated:
Recent bark beetle outbreaks have resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of conifers on approximately 74 million acres (30 million hectares) of forest in western North America during the last decade. Stand conditions, drought, and warming temperatures have contributed to the severity of these outbreaks, particularly in high-elevation forests (USDA 2009). Many forests remain susceptible to bark beetle infestation and will continue to experience high levels of conifer mortality until suitable host trees are depleted or natural factors cause beetle populations to collapse.
Citation
Jenkins, Michael J.; Hebertson, Elizabeth G.; Page, Wesley G.; Lindquist, Wanda E. 2011. A tool to estimate the impact of bark beetle activity on fuels and fire behavior. Fire Management Today. 71(3): 36-41.