Source and spread dynamics of mountain pine beetle in central Alberta, Canada

Abstract

The mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is a significant destructive force in the pine forests of western Canada and has the capacity to spread east into a novel host tree species, jack pine (Pinaceae). New populations have been documented in central Alberta, Canada, but the source populations for these outbreaks have yet to be identified. In this study, we use genetic data to identify parent populations for recent outbreak sites near Slave Lake, Lac La Biche, and Hinton, Alberta. We found the northern population cluster that entered Alberta near Grande Prairie was the source of the most eastern established population near Lac La Biche, and the range expansion to this leading-edge population has been too rapid to establish evidence of population structure. However, some dispersal from a population in the Jasper and Hinton area has been detected as far north and east as Slave Lake, Alberta. We also identified two potential source populations for the current outbreak in Hinton: most beetles appear to be from Jasper National Park, Alberta, but some also originated from the northern population cluster. These findings demonstrate the dynamic dispersal capabilities of mountain pine beetle across the Alberta landscape and the potential hazard of increased dispersal to newly established leading-edge populations.

Spatiotemporal evolutionary dynamics and biological response of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in western Canada after range expansion

“…They found that these crossed individuals shared some similarities with beetles originating from Jasper National Park, close to the region of genetic admixture identified in previous studies (Janes et al, 2014). I was also a part of a collaborative study by Shegelski et al (2021) which used a similar ddRADseq based study on 294 individuals from nine sites at 2872 genomic SNPs, finding little genetic structure in the five sites contained in central Alberta. Shegelski et al (2021) used the genetic material from a small subset of beetles used in this dissertation.…”

“…These studies (Janes et al, 2014;Batista et al, 2016;Trevoy et al, 2018;Shegelski et al, 2021) showed the versatility of SNPs as a genetic marker to use in the study of MPB and present possible gene flow patterns that will be informative for my study. While some of these studies have identified MPB outlier loci, they have not yet explored the genetic correlations of outlier loci with potential landscape drivers (e.g., precipitation, temperature, stand condition).…”

“…I was also a part of a collaborative study by Shegelski et al (2021) which used a similar ddRADseq based study on 294 individuals from nine sites at 2872 genomic SNPs, finding little genetic structure in the five sites contained in central Alberta. Shegelski et al (2021) used the genetic material from a small subset of beetles used in this dissertation.…”

Weak population genetic structure in Eurasian spruce bark beetle over large regional scales in Sweden

“…Future studies of spruce bark beetle population structure should focus on even larger scales, geographically addressing the effects of larger water bodies, mountain ranges or larger areas of deciduous forests and agriculture on dispersal, but as well temporally the initial post‐glacial invasion of insect and host tree. Another intention was to identify region‐specific genetic markers, enabling the identification of the origin of individuals at new outbreaks (Shegelski et al, 2021 ). This is also not possible, given the very weak population structure.…”

Mountain Pine Beetle Impacts on Health through Lost Forest Air Pollutant Sinks

“…For example, in 2010, MPB was responsible for 74% of total tree mortality on US Forest Service surveyed lands. Impacts to Canadian forests have also been extensive [61].…”