1. Mountain Pine Beetle in British Columbia

2. Life Cycle of Pine Beetle

3. About MPB
Attacks ALL types of pine trees, but preferential to Lodgepole and Ponderosa Pine.
No Larger than a grain of rice.
MPB are a natural aspect to a forest ecosystem
Beetles don’t kill the tree, Bluestain Fungus kills the tree.

4. The Problems Dense Forests Allow Easy Access to New Host Trees.
Average Temperatures in Central BC Have Been significantly warmer than normal
Warm Temperatures allow MPB to thrive.

5. Forests Destroyed

6. Extent of Dead Forests (Courtesy River Forecast Centre, B.C. Ministry
of Environment)
Total Land Area Equivalent to California and New York Combined

7. 30 Year Temperature Threshold
Need 12 Hours of -40*F
J. Régnière, et al. (2003)

8. Consequences
A large CO2 sink now becomes a large CO2 Source (End of 2020, 990 Megatons Released)
Fuel for Catastrophic Wildfires

9. How To Control MPB

10. Better Forestry Practices

11. Better Forestry Practices

12. Healthy Forest Stand

13. Other Methods Spraying Tree With Pesticide Restoring Fire Cycles
If Isolated Event, Remove Tree ASAP (It Cannot be saved)
Large Thinning Projects and controlled burns are the only long term solution for MPB