Park closures in CO & WY

anyone traveling out west this summer may want to check the status of the parks they're planning to stay at.
many are being closed due to beetle damaged trees.

When I was in Colorado last summer, there were entire sides of mountains where all the trees were dead. From a distance it looked cool with a very pretty shade of orangey-red but as you got closer you could tell it was just dead pine needles. These insects have caused a lot of damage out there!

I have to wonder about the equilibrium of all this. The American Chestnut is gone. The elm is all but gone. Now the lodgepole pine is threatened.

Is it "typical," on the long scale, for tree species to rise and fall like this? Is it simply globalization bringing pests around in a way that didn't happen before (e.g. Dutch Elm Disease)? I'm sure someone here knows far more than I and can shed a little light.

jniehof said:

I have to wonder about the equilibrium of all this. The American Chestnut is gone. The elm is all but gone. Now the lodgepole pine is threatened.

Is it "typical," on the long scale, for tree species to rise and fall like this? Is it simply globalization bringing pests around in a way that didn't happen before (e.g. Dutch Elm Disease)? I'm sure someone here knows far more than I and can shed a little light.

Click to expand...

The "Balance of Nature" is not static--populations can vary constantly due to a variety of factors. Species are also created and die out.

Before man began his global travels, many organisms were isolated on ecological "islands". Now that man has begun carrying many organisms around on a global scale, he is introducing pathogens to non-resistant organisms at a much greater rate than occurs naturally. Exotic (=foreign) pests decimating certain species of trees is just one symptom.

Note that man is not the only long-distance traveler--some birds and some marine animals are notable travelers and can similarly transport organisms long distances.

Doug

jniehof said:

I have to wonder about the equilibrium of all this. The American Chestnut is gone. The elm is all but gone. Now the lodgepole pine is threatened.

Is it "typical," on the long scale, for tree species to rise and fall like this? Is it simply globalization bringing pests around in a way that didn't happen before (e.g. Dutch Elm Disease)? I'm sure someone here knows far more than I and can shed a little light.

Click to expand...

Pollen records show that hemlock declined drammatically about 5500 yrs ago, but it then recovered. Probably the pine-beetle decimated conifers in the West will recover also, after some severe fires perhaps, unlike the American chestnut and elm. Many paleoecological records from lake sediments reveal a relationship between pathogens (ex. beetle parts) and fire (charcoal).

TMax said:

When I was in Colorado last summer, there were entire sides of mountains where all the trees were dead. From a distance it looked cool with a very pretty shade of orangey-red but as you got closer you could tell it was just dead pine needles. These insects have caused a lot of damage out there!

Click to expand...

We noticed a fair amount of that as well west of Denver. There also have been some pretty extensive fires in the Boulder Hills since the last time I was there a few years ago. Its amazing how quickly natural forces can shape a landscape.

jniehof said:

I have to wonder about the equilibrium of all this. The American Chestnut is gone. The elm is all but gone.

Click to expand...

have you walked around forests in the northeast lately? Large chestnut trees are essentially gone, but sapling resprouts are common, & I've seen a number of places in my town where they have time to go to seed. (in fact, I've been carrying around a chestnut burr in my backpack with me from a hike the other day, here it is:

)

As far as elms go, they're definitely not gone. Maybe less than there used to be, but I see plenty of American elms in floodplain forests; some of them get hit by the Dutch elm disease but many survive for a long time. In fact there are a few at our County Farm that are fairly large w/ no signs of the disease; one was over a foot in diameter. One in my backyard forest has lost its bark but I still have six or seven of various sizes that litter elm seeds onto my yard each year. There's a sapling on the edge of my yard that I was looking at this evening; I hate to cut down but it will be too close to my house if I let it grow up.

Anyway, at least these bark beetles are native, & the problem isn't new, it's just that we've made the forests more vulnerable in some ways & the beetles are taking advantage of it. http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/4570