Download (PDF 131 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/19145.pdf
Abstract
The brown spruce longhorn beetle,
Tetropium fuscum (Fabr.) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) recently became established in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where it is infesting and killing apparently healthy red spruce,
Picea rubens Sarg. In its native range,
T. fuscum is a secondary pest of Norway spruce,
Picea abies L., breeding in recently felled trees or trees weakened by root rots, lightning or other factors. To test the relationship between tree vigor and susceptibility to infestation by
T. fuscum, we felled 18 pairs of infested and uninfested red spruce in the winter of 2001 in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, and measured radial growth rates as a correlate of vigor. Mean 5-year radial increment peaked in 1956-1960 and declined steadily thereafter for all red spruce. However, radial growth was significantly lower in attacked trees than in unattacked trees in seven of nine 5-year periods between 1956 and 2000. Our data indicate that red spruce with reduced growth rates and low vigor were more susceptible to infestation by
T. fuscum than faster growing, more vigorous trees.
Parent Publication
Citation
O''Leary, K.; Hurley, J. E.; Mackay, W.; Sweeney, J. 2003. Radial growth rate and susceptibility of
Picea rubens Sarg. to
Tetropium fuscum (Fabr.). In: McManus, Michael L.; Liebhold, Andrew M., eds. Proceedings: Ecology, Survey and Management of Forest Insects; 2002 September 1-5; Krakow, Poland. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-311. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 107-114.
