Transcript Extreme Beaks!

U.S. Bark Beetle Outbreaks
A look at how climate change is fueling
the current outbreak of bark beetles in
the southeast U.S. and southwest U.S.
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A Windows to the Universe presentation to
accompany the Bark Beetle Outbreaks
Classroom activity
Changing Planet: Bark Beetle
Outbreaks
NBC Learn Video – Bark Beetle Outbreaks
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Bark Beetle
Summary
• They are native to North America.
• They are about the size of a grain
of rice.
• They are an important part of the
forest ecosystem.
They work together to eliminate weakened trees, so new,
more vigorous trees can grow in their place.
There is a major outbreak of bark beetles in the southeastern
U.S. (Southern pine beetle Dendroctonus frontalis) and the
western U.S. and Canada (Mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus
ponderosae).
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Current Outbreak Fueled by Climate Change
Pine bark beetles have been charged with killing 47 million
hectares of pine trees throughout U.S. Trees that have been
killed because of pine bark beetles have brown needles in
this picture.
-Current outbreak has been
linked to a warming shift in
climate, which has produced
long-term drought
- Drought makes trees weak
and thus they are susceptible
to bark beetle attack
- The double whammy of this
scenario is that warming
climate is causing shifts in
where beetle populations can
live; and it is allowing bark
beetles to overwinter in higher
numbers and reproduce more
quickly.
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Bark Beetle Lifecycle and
Pheromone Research
• Female beetle lands on tree.
• Female decides to make the tree her home by
boring into the tree.
• Female secretes a pheromone to attract hundreds
of other bark beetles to the same tree. This means
a mass attack and death for the tree.
• Adults reproduce and lay eggs. Eggs hatch into
larvae under the bark of the tree. Larvae emerge
from tree and fly to a new tree host.
• Major studies into the pheromones of bark beetles
are ongoing, even at a genetic level. Scientists are
working to understand this process in hopes of
preventing devastating outbreaks in the future.
Larvae of a mountain pine
beetle & bore holes of the
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small southern pine engraver
beetle
Actions for the Concerned
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• There are many different types of
bark beetles that affect many
different kinds of trees.
• Many government and concerned
groups are removing dead or
diseased trees, leaving more room
for thriving trees to live.
• Concerned citizens are watering
trees with much needed water they
need to stay healthy.
• Take care when camping or driving
in areas where trees are infected by
bark beetles. Dead trees will
eventually tip over and the time and
direction of their fall is unpredictable!