mountain pine beetle update - fri research · of any mpb site that poses a risk of spread. holding...

Dan Lux P.Bio

Manager of Forest HealthAlberta Sustainable Resource Development

Foothills Research InstituteMountain Pine Beetle Ecology Program

WorkshopApril 25 and 26 2012

Mountain Pine Beetle Update

Spring Over-wintering Success 2010

Last year at this time….

Beetle Flight2011 Mill Trap Counts

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50

100

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June15-29

June 30- July 13

July 14 -22

July 23 -29

July 30 -Aug 5

Aug 6 -12

Aug 13 -19

Aug 20 -26

Aug 27 -Sept 7

Sept 8 -14

Date of Collection

# of

MPB HWP

FFP

Long Range Detection

Pheromone BaitNetwork

29

Generalized Aerial Survey Tactics


Aerial Photography1.9 million red mapped


Heli GPSOver 241,000 red mapped





2010 Photography And current G:R




2010 Photography And current G:R

Fixed WingSketch

Mapping

2,180,678 red trees mapped

There are still hundreds of thousands of red trees in the West Central and Northwest part of the Province.

Green:red samples were collected.

Summary of Green:Red Data

0 0

0.540.48 0.45

1.25 1.26

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0.8

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1.4

SouthernRockies

Clearw ater Foothills Woodlands Slave Lake Smoky Peace River

Summary of Green:Red Data

0 0

0.540.48 0.45

1.25 1.26

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0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

SouthernRockies

Clearw ater Foothills Woodlands Slave Lake Smoky Peace River

Increasing Population Compared to Last Year

Decreasing Population Compared to Last Year

MPB Range 2011

We put priority to the pine that is highly connected and threats the watersheds along the eastern slopes or poses a risk of spreading further east into the Boreal.

Principals of Beetle Control

Red indicates highly connected MPB susceptible Stands

Red indicates highly connected MPB susceptible Stands

Any build-up of beetle populations in this area will threaten the Prime Objectives



To control beetles

Over 80% of the high risk infested trees must be controlled.

We use a Decision Support System to assign risk based on:

The number of infested trees in the patch.The susceptibility of the stand.

The connectivity of the stand (within 5 km radius).



To control beetles

Over 80% of the high risk infested trees must be controlled.

We use a Decision Support System to assign risk based on:

The number of infested trees in the patch.The susceptibility of the stand.

The connectivity of the stand (within 5 km radius).

With the help of Dr. Barry Cooke (NRCan) and Dr. Allan Carroll (UBC), we are reevaluating our DSS this year.

Leading Edge Zone • Highest priority zone.

• It includes the highly connected pine areas, where beetle populations threaten to spread along the eastern slopes and eastward into the boreal forest.

• The objective is to treat 80% to 100% of any MPB site that poses a risk of spread.

Holding Zone

Has significantly more infested trees, with generally larger infested patches than in the Leading-edge Zone.

The objective for this zone is to ensure beetle populations remain static.

Inactive Holding Zone

• The beetle populations are so large that beetle control would be ineffective or insignificant in terms of meeting the provincial goals or the pine is located in areas that are relatively isolated.

• The main goal is to manage for other forest management objectives.

Summary for this year – Ground Survey Contracts

Forest Area Sites Surveyed

Number of Infested Trees Surveyed

Number of Trees Controlled

Percent of high risk trees controlled

Smoky 6772 118,823 118,800 99.9%

Woodlands 1364 7766 7724 99.5%

Foothills 888 3045 3037 99.7%

Slave Lake 248 888 827 93.1%

Clearwater 16 28 10 35.7%

Southern Rockies

39 35 35 100%

Provincial TOTALS

9388 130,585 130,433 99.9%

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Number of Trees Controlled

SmokyWoodlandsFoothillsSlave LakeClearwaterSouthern Rockies

Where Control Happens in Alberta

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Red Trees

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Red Trees

Foothills Forest Area Red Tree Trends

Consistent data since 2004

Similar trends in Woodlands and Slave Lake

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Result of the 2006 In-flight

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Result of the 2009 In-flight

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Inter-governmental Projects

• National MPB Workshop Held in Edmonton Nov 2011– Forest Health Professionals and FM Execs from Across Canada– NRCan Researchers and Exec

• Dakota Society of American Foresters– Keynote speaker

• Interprovincial Agreements– Sask providing funding to AB

• SK agreement is in place• NWT considering options, but we will align dispersal bait program

Recent Feedback“It is very encouraging to see that a government agency can work with industry to layout and implement an effective MPB strategy. The Alberta MPB strategy is comprehensive enough to be effective and lucid enough to implement. The people of Alberta are very fortunate to have a timber industry and a government who are so dedicated to keeping Alberta’s and the rest of Canada’s forests healthy.” Nov 2011

Paul Pierson, CFDakotas Society of American Foresters, Chair-elect

“Just wanted to extend our thanks for the work and leadership Alberta is doing with regards to management of the MPB.”Lyle Dinn

A/Manager Forest OperationsGovernment of Yukon – Nov 2011

mountain pine beetle update - fri research · of any mpb site that poses a risk of spread. holding...

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