Mountain Pine Beetle Management

Adult Mountain Pine Beetles (MPBs) be known to bore into trees that ar suitable for laying eggs in the trees bark. Mature lodgepole languishs (Pinus contorta Douglas var. latifolia Engelmann) from 80 to 120 years old are only some of the many trees infested and damaged by MPBs. Pine beetling problems such as tree pestilence and damage occur when MPBs approach to settle in a tree and lay its eggs of 60 to 80.Canadian forests have go through MPB infestation since previous years, with the area of British Columbia acceptedly suffering from the largest pest outbreak in the memorial of Canada with over 7 million hectares infested in 2004. The region of Alberta has previously experienced two pest outbreaks from 1940 to 1943 and from 1977 to 1985. However, there is an imminent threat of another MPB outbreak. explore identifies the threat as caused by the overwhelming abundance of pliable pine forests located at the eastern slope of the Rockies. The MPB outbreak threat is to a faul t believed to expand from the pine forests to the boreal forests east of the Rocky Mountains.For this reason, Alberta is seeking measures to hamper another MPB outbreak from occurring. The primary goal is to reduce the number of amenable pine trees from the infestation of pine beetles before the MPBs reach the region for the third gear time. An objective interpreted in Alberta so far is early recognition of susceptible pine trees in recite to control and preempt the lawsuit where there is already infestation. Some of the areas aimed at preempting an MPB outbreak include the study parks situated between Alberta and British Columbia, as well as popular, private and municipal lands in Alberta.One of the measures taken is the removal of the susceptible prime brood producing stands. This step is designed to mitigate the probability of the offshoot of the MPB population. Once this step is already established, the growth of the MPB population is expected to slow down after which a direct control efforts on the MPB infestation will be applied.Estimates from aerial and ground surveys since August 2006 indicate a total of 2.8 million trees infested by the pine beetle. There are current efforts in Alberta in resolving the probable outbreak such as the efforts taken by the Alberta Sustainable Resource Development which detected and handle over a thousand infested trees, 98% of which were treated in 2002 to 2003. frugal estimates reveal that the impact of an MPB outbreak will greatly affect the woodwind and furniture industry.Possible solutions roughly include, but is not limited to, MPB easing efforts which are strategically planned and well-coordinated among land managers such as set Canada, First Nations, Alberta Community Development, the forest industry as well as the municipalities. In the event where there is already a rampant MPB outbreak, a salvage strategy will be applied by convalescent dead and dying trees before the fiber is lost in order to obt ain the pine trees which may still be of good use.The carrying into action will be spearheaded by the government of Alberta in cooperation with the existing public and private organizations and concerned individuals through coordinated efforts. Constant monitoring and studies taken by the government teams for mitigating the probable and eventual MPB infestation will be applied alongside with the incorporation of efforts from private entities.ReferencesMountain Pine Beetles in Your Backyard? from http//www.srd.gov.ab.ca/forests/health/mpb.htmlOno, H. (2003). The Mountain Pine Beetle Scope of the Problem and recognise Issues in Alberta. Paper presented at the Mountain Pine Beetle Symposium Challenges and Solutions.