Tag: climate and disturbance

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Climate Change and Predicting Geographical Forest Insect Distributions

Excerpt from: Régnière, J. 2009. Predicting insect continental distributions from species physiology. Unasylva. 60:37-42.

Global spread of harmful forest pest species is a possible consequence of climate change. However, because of the diverse and complex responses of insects to climatic factors, it is difficult to make general predictions. Generic modeling tools, such as BioSIM (Régnière and St-Amant 2008), use available knowledge about the responses of particular species (usually pests) to key climatic factors to predict their potential geographic range and …

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Climate Change Impacts on Forest Insects

Excerpt from: Régnière, J. 2009. Predicting insect continental distributions from species physiology. Unasylva. 60:37-42.

Insects constitute the most diverse form of animal life in terrestrial ecosystems. Most species are innocuous but essential components of natural ecosystems. Because they are cold-blooded, the rates of key physiological processes in their life cycles are determined by environmental conditions, especially temperature and precipitation. In general they have short generation times, high fecundity, and high mobility (either through their own faculties or aided by wind, …

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Wildfire and Climate

Adapted from: Rogstad, Alix; Crimmins, Michael; and Garfin, Gregg. 2006. Climate change and wildfire impacts in Southwest forests and woodlands. University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Publication No. az1425
Figure 1. Wildfire is a major concern for forest lands impacted by changes in climate. Photo courtesy of the Bureau of Land Management.

Wildfire requires three things to burn: an ignition source, fuel, and oxygen. If one of the three requirements is removed, the fire activity will be …

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How a Changing Climate Can Affect Tree Health

Written by Eli Sagor

A changing climate will affect different forest stands in different ways, depending on a wide variety of factors including stand vigor, species and age class diversity, soils, water availability, and the ways that climate changes. For example, reduced soil moisture as a result of changing rainfall patterns will affect some species differently than others.

Here is what we know:

  1. The trees thriving in a given forest stand are well adapted to the current and recent
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Bark Beetles

Written by: Tom DeGomez, University of Arizona

Bark beetles are tiny, naturally occurring insects that contribute to the death of thousands of trees in the western United States each year. They can also reach outbreak status in the southeastern United States. Bark beetles also occur in the northeastern United States but rarely reach outbreak levels. Bark beetles use most species of conifers. Even freshly cut logs are an ideal host for many bark beetles. The buildup of beetle populations, whether …

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Epidemiology and Infestation of Southern Pine Beetle

Written by J. D. Ward and P. Mistretta for Forest Encyclopedia Network

The southern pine beetle (SPB), which attacks all species of pines (in the southern United States), prefers loblolly, shortleaf, Virginia, ponderosa, and pitch pines but seldom attacks longleaf pine. Recently, SPB has been observed to successfully infest white and Table Mountain pines. Mature trees in pure, dense stands have long been considered most susceptible to SPB attack, but in recent years unthinned pine plantations have increasingly supported SPB …

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Climate and Disturbance

Image:Stand-replacing fire.JPGDisturbance regimes for fires, insect and disease outbreaks, and invasive species are altered by changes in climate.

 

Written by Tom DeGomez, University of Arizona
Figure 1. Changes in climate are forecast to increase the intensity and severity of several forms of disturbance, such as wildfire, which could impact the health and sustainability of many ecosystems. Photo: Chris Schnepf, University of Idaho.

Climate is critical as to whether a species population will expand or contract within its range. Most forests and …

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