We
are into the last echos of the great pine beetle infestation. A
couple of cold spells have occurred and much more important all the
pine forest that were vulnerable have been destroyed. The only
threat now is a cyclical repeat around seventy years from now. That
can be handled then by aggressive harvesting in the seventh decade.
Even
better we learn how to stagger harvest in order to even out the
production, but make sure no stand ever become mature enough to allow
the pine beetle a foothold. We learned something this time around
and it is how to properly interact with the beetle and the forest
itself in order to optimize production and provide good husbandry.
This
item is unsurprising as the tree exudes volatiles to fend off
attacks. The air becomes full of complex gases and fine wood dust.
As we
learned once again, there is little human intervention can do when
one of these infestations gets going unless we are simply lucky.
Beetle-infested
pine trees contribute more to air pollution and haze in forests
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) May 28, 2012
To determine exactly
how beetle attacks affect the atmosphere, the researchers measured
VOC levels in the air near healthy and infected pine trees.
The hordes
of bark beetles that have bored their way through more
than 6 billion trees in the western U.S. and British Columbia since
the 1990s do more than damage and kill stately pine, spruce and other
trees.
A new study finds that
these pests can make trees release up to 20 times more of the organic
substances that foster haze and air pollution in forested areas. It
appears in ACS' journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Kara Huff Hartz,
Gannet Hallar and colleagues explain that western North America is
experiencing a population explosion of mountain pinebeetles,
a type of bark beetle that damages and kills pines and other trees.
The beetles bore into the bark of pine trees to lay eggs.
Gases, called volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), which act as defense mechanisms against the
beetles, are released from the bore holes. VOCs, however, also
contribute to the smog and haze that obscures views of natural
landscapes in U.S. National Parks and other nature areas where
tourists gather in the summertime.
To determine exactly
how beetle attacks affect the atmosphere, the researchers measured
VOC levels in the air near healthy and infected pine trees.
They found that
beetle-infested trees release up to 20 times more VOCs than healthy
trees near the ground surface. The predominant type of VOC was a
monoterpene called B-phellandrene.
The data suggest that
the bark beetle epidemic in the western U.S. could have led to higher
monoterpene concentrations in the air that can contribute to haze,
which can harm human health, reduce visibility and impact
climate, say the researchers.
Related Links
American Chemical Society
Forestry News - Global and Local News, Science and Application
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