Forest understories became the story: Lynx, bark beetle mortality, and salvage logging

Andrea Watts; John R. Squires; Joseph Holbrook; Jake Ivan; Lucretia E. E. Olson; Peter McDonald; Kirby Self

Treesearch

Forest understories became the story: Lynx, bark beetle mortality, and salvage logging

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Andrea Watts, John R. Squires, Joseph Holbrook, Jake Ivan, Lucretia E. E. Olson, Peter McDonald, Kirby Self

Year:

2021

Type:

Science Bulletins and Newsletters

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

Science You Can Use Bulletin, Issue 48. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 10 p.

Download (PDF 2.55 MB)

Download (PDF 2.55 MB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/64813.pdf

Abstract

In Colorado, cumulative spruce beetle outbreaks over the past few decades have resulted in dead and dying spruce-dominated forests across state, private, and federal lands. Among the landscapes hardest hit is southern Colorado’s Rio Grande National Forest; approximately 85 percent of the mature spruce comprising its subalpine forests has been killed by the beetles. These subalpine forests are critical to the persistence of the federally threatened Canada lynx reintroduced onto the forest beginning in 1999.

Keywords

Science You Can Use, SYCU, forest understory, spruce beetle outbreaks, subalpine forests, Canada lynx

Citation

Watts, Andrea; Squires, John; Holbrook, Joseph; Ivan, Jake; Olson, Lucretia; McDonald, Peter; Self, Kirby. 2021. Forest understories became the story: Lynx, bark beetle mortality, and salvage logging. Science You Can Use Bulletin, Issue 48. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 10 p.