Stand Characteristics Associated with Mountain Pine Beetle Infestations in Ponderosa Pine

Understanding drivers of disturbances across scales is critical as environmental constraints change in a warming climate. Outbreaks of native bark beetles (Curculionidae: Scolytinae) are key natural disturbances that shape the structure and function of conifer forests across the northern hemisphere. While drivers of bark beetle outbreaks have been studied extensively at spatial scales ranging from stands to continents, within‐stand processes governing individual tree mortality in an outbreak are less well understood. Here, we use a spatially explicit long‐term monitoring dataset of a lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) forest (>9000 individually mapped trees in three 2‐ha plots) impacted by a severe mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) outbreak to explore interactions among fine scale drivers of beetle‐caused tree mortality. Using a Bayesian spatial modeling approach, we evaluated how tree scale and tree neighborhood scale characteristics interact with tree size to mediate host tree susceptibility to mountain pine beetle outbreak in the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA). We found evidence that both tree growth rate preceding the outbreak and neighborhood structure (within a 10 meter radius of the host tree) mediate the effect of tree size, and that the direction and magnitude of these mediating effects vary with tree size. Tree scale mortality probability increased with pre‐outbreak growth rate for small to medium sized host trees (~10–25 cm diameter), but that same effect was not detected for large trees. Conversely, tree scale mortality probability increased with greater neighborhood density, with the most pronounced effects for medium to large sized host trees (~15–30 cm diameter). Within‐stand topographic variability was not an important predictor of mortality probability; among stands, however, the stand in the driest topographic position experienced the greatest overall mortality. By explicitly considering how within‐stand heterogeneity mediates individual tree scale susceptibility to bark beetle outbreak, our findings bridge an important gap in understanding multi‐scale drivers of disturbance dynamics.

show abstract

Neighborhood context mediates probability of host tree mortality in a severe bark beetle outbreak

Buonanduci

Morris

Agne

et al. 2020

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Forest thinning and subsequent bark beetle-caused mortality in Northeastern California

Egan

Jacobi

Negrón

et al. 2010

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tree spatial patterns in fire-frequent forests of western North America, including mechanisms of pattern formation and implications for designing fuel reduction and restoration treatments

Larson

Churchill

2012

Forest Ecology and Management

266

277

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

hi@scite.ai

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Stand Characteristics Associated with Mountain Pine Beetle Infestations in Ponderosa Pine

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

Neighborhood context mediates probability of host tree mortality in a severe bark beetle outbreak

Neighborhood context mediates probability of host tree mortality in a severe bark beetle outbreak

Forest thinning and subsequent bark beetle-caused mortality in Northeastern California

Tree spatial patterns in fire-frequent forests of western North America, including mechanisms of pattern formation and implications for designing fuel reduction and restoration treatments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About