Landscape-Scale Treatment Promising For Slowing Beetle Spread (pine beetles don't drink herbal tea!)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/news/2009/090202_beetletreatment.pdf

U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station
CALIFORNIA-ALBANY-ARCATA-DAVIS-FRESNO-PLACERVILLE-REDDING-RIVERSIDE
HAWAII-HILO
SCIENCE YOU CAN USE

http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/
Contacts: Nancy Gillette, Ph.D., PSW Research Station, 510/559-6474, [e-mail]
Sherri Richardson-Dodge, PNW Research Station public affairs, 503/808-2137

Landscape-Scale Treatment Promising For Slowing Beetle Spread

ALBANY, Calif., Feb. 2, 2009—Mountain pine beetles devastating lodgepole pine stands across the West might best be kept in check with aerial application of flakes containing a natural substance used in herbal teas that the insects release to avoid overcrowding host trees, according to a team of scientists.

Findings from the U.S. Forest Service-funded study appear in the February issue of Forest Ecology and Management. The study was conducted in California and Idaho, and showed how applications of laminated flakes containing a substance called verbenone resulted in a three-fold reduction in insect attack rates, compared to areas where they were not applied.

The technique could provide a way to treat infestations on a large scale and limit further spread into millions of acres of trees made vulnerable because of climate change, overcrowding and fires.

It could also be an alternative to insecticides, which can have adverse environmental effects. Thinning of some overstocked forests is still recommended to reduce susceptibility to bark beetles. But, the flakes can provide some protection for the dense, old-growth stands required by wildlife, according to the scientists.

…