Pine beetle outbreaks turn forests into carbon source

[phantom power]

DENVER - An outbreak of mountain pine beetles in British Columbia is doing more than destroying millions of trees: By 2020, the beetles will have done so much damage that the forest is expected to release more carbon dioxide than it absorbs, according to new research.

The study, led by Werner Kurz of the Canadian Forest Service, estimates that over 21 years trees killed by the beetle outbreak could release 990 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — roughly equivalent to five years of emissions from Canada's transportation sector.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080424/ap_on_sc/pine_beetles_global_warming_2;_ylt=AkPk4bRxCuFdfAALcl7bSJhrAlMA

[hatrack]

1. Oops!!!

I may have to start brewing a lot more :beer: if this keeps up.

[texastoast]

2. Is it because of the increase in temp?

I heard the Colorado Rockies will soon be bare from the beetles too.

[phantom power]

3. Basically, warm winters. Hard freezes used to keep them under control.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

7. Dutch elm disease is also a big part of the problem in CO..

Between that and the Halloween freeze in the 90's, my hometown is almost bare. All those huge trees I grew up with are just gone. :(

American Forests, Jan-Feb, 1993
The fall of 1991 had been warm and mild in Colorado and neighboring states. But on October 27, a deadly mass of arctic air began to descend from Canada onto the high plains. Record cold temperatures were felt for days; the effects will be felt for decades.
The abrupt change in temperature and the cold's severity combined to create a double-whammy, now known as the Halloween Freeze. Already stressed from an extended drought and not yet hardened for winter, thousands and thousands of trees succumbed to the hard freeze. Especially hard-hit were fast-growing Siberian elms. Many trees were so severely damaged that although a few branches cling to life even today, there is no alternative but removing them.
Some small towns lost 70 percent of their trees, mostly Siberian elms planted 50 to 75 years ago. Farmers and ranchers lost entire windbreaks planted by their parents and grandparents.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1016/is_n1-2_v99/ai_13687832/pg_1

[malakai2]

10. Losing Siberian elms is not a disaster

They aren't native, were planted in shelterbelts in such a way as to break up prairie and provide habitat for raccoons, oppossums, and the like that displace native prairie species, and have a nasty habit of dropping limbs even under good conditions. They are also resistant to dutch elm disease, so that while they slowly (very slowly) decline after infection, they serve as a disease source that will infect all nearby native elms. The Siberian elms in North America should be removed, every last one of them.

[JDPriestly]

4. And fires follow. We are about to lose our forests.

That is the beginning of the end. Without forests, humans cannot survive.

[GliderGuider]

5. Time to build a bunch of mobile charcoal retorts.

It's Terra Preta time in British Columbia.

[Buzz Clik]

6. And when the forest regrows, it will cycle back.

We need to worry about and control things that humans do.

[phantom power]

8. Pine beetle outbreaks *are* something we did.

We warmed the climate, and allowed the beetles to flourish in the northern forests.

[Buzz Clik]

9. Maybe.

Here's an article from several years ago. It has lots of interesting information.

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=14853

[Muttocracy]

11. I remember reading about the trickle-up impacts to grizzlies in NY Times last year

I imagine that will be true all over the Rockies. One of those indirect effects of climate change -> more pests -> more decomposition and less photosynthesis -> more climate change. Sigh.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E5DB143FF933A05752C0A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all