Impact of Southern Pine Beetle on Forest Structure and Fuel Loading in a Wildfire-prone Landscape

Abstract

Southern pine beetle (SPB; Dendroctonus frontalis) is the most destructive forest insect in the Southeastern United States, with greatest damage occurring in high-density pine stands with basal area above approximately 18 m² ha^-1 (Aoki and others 2016, Ayres and others 2011, Nowak and others 2015). As SPB migrates northward, it is impacting pinedominated forests throughout much of the Mid- Atlantic region. In the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve (PNR), Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data indicate that approximately 65 percent of the stands dominated by pitch pine (Pinus rigida) and shortleaf pine (P. echinata) are at or above the density at which SPB can cause significant pine mortality (Crocker 2014, 2015).

Citation

Clark, Kenneth L.; Ayres, Matthew; Aoki, Carissa; Wengrowski, Emily; Peterken, Jane. 2017. Impact of Southern Pine Beetle on Forest Structure and Fuel Loading in a Wildfire-prone Landscape. Chapter 9. In: Potter, Kevin M.; Conkling, Barbara L., eds. 2017. Forest health monitoring: national status, trends, and analysis 2016. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-222. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 147-154.