Bark beetles in a changing climate

Abstract

Over the past decade, native bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) have killed billions of trees across millions of hectares of forest from Alaska to Mexico. Although bark beetle infestations are a regular force of natural change in forested ecosystems, several current outbreaks occurring simultaneously across western North America are the largest and most severe in recorded history. Bark beetle ecology is complex and dynamic, and a variety of circumstances must coincide for a large scale bark beetle outbreak. While outbreak dynamics vary from bark beetle species to bark beetle species and from forest type to forest type, a combination of several factors appear to be driving current outbreaks, including a changing climate.

Parent Publication

• The Western Bark Beetle Research Group: a unique collaboration with Forest Health Protection-proceedings of a symposium at the 2007 Society of American Foresters conference

Citation

Lundquist, John E.; Bentz, Barbara J. 2009. Bark beetles in a changing climate. In: Hayes, J.L.; Lundquist, J.E., comps 2009. The Western Bark Beetle Research Group: a unique collaboration with Forest Health Protection-proceedings of a symposium at the 2007 Society of American Foresters conference. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-784. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station: pp. 39-49