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Abstract
The combined threats of the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, MPB) epidemic with the imminent invasion of white pine blister rust (caused by the non-native fungus Cronartium ribicola, WPBR) in limber pine (Pinus flexilis) forests in northern Colorado threatens the limber pine's regeneration cycle and ecosystem function. Over one million hectares of Colorado forests have been infested by MPB between 1996 and 2008 (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2010). Limber pine makes up only approximately 3 percent of this infested area (U.S. Department of Agriculture, unpublished data), but is a disproportionately important component of forested ecosystems for recreation, biodiversity, and watershed protection (Schoettle 2004). White pine blister rust was first detected in northern Colorado in 1998 on limber pine and continues to spread (Johnson and Jacobi 2000; Blodgett and Sullivan 2004; Kearns and Jacobi 2007).
Parent Publication
Keywords
high elevation five-needle pines,
threats,
whitebark,
Pinus albicaulis,
limber,
Pinus flexilis,
southwestern white,
Pinus strobiformis,
foxtail,
Pinus balfouriana,
Great Basin bristlecone,
Pinus longaeva,
Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine,
Pinus aristata
Citation
Klutsch, Jennifer G.; Goodrich, Betsy A.; Schoettle, Anna W. 2011. Limber pine forests on the leading edge of white pine blister rust distribution in Northern Colorado. In: Keane, Robert E.; Tomback, Diana F.; Murray, Michael P.; Smith, Cyndi M., eds. The future of high-elevation, five-needle white pines in Western North America: Proceedings of the High Five Symposium. 28-30 June 2010; Missoula, MT. Proceedings RMRS-P-63. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 222-225.
