INFECTIOUS DISEASE, BARK BEETLES, AND WILDLAND FIRE IMPACTS ON SOUTHERN SIERRA WHITE PINES

Authors

Joan Dudney

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America

Publication Date

Winter 1-2021

Issue

1

Volume

102

Abstract

Invasive pathogens, bark beetles, and wildland fire can have major impacts on tree populations. To characterize the long-term patterns of these three mortality agents on white pines located in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, we surveyed 152 long-term monitoring plots that were first surveyed 20 years earlier. Though white pine blister rust infections decreased from 5.3% to 4.2%, it was recorded in whitebark pine for the first time. Mountain pine beetle (MPB) attacks were highest in sugar pines and decreased at higher elevations. Blister rust, fire, and MPB all contributed to major declines in sugar pine (35% of the population was lost in 20 years).

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