Sequence of Destruction: Mountain Pine Beetle and Wildfire, Yellowstone National Park
Parker DL and Stipe LE. 1993. Sequence of Destruction: Mountain Pine Beetle and Wildfire, Yellowstone National Park. US Forest Service, Southwestern Region. Albuquerque, NM
A mountain pine beetle infestation started in lodgepole forests on the Targhee National Forest in the late 1950's and spread into Yellowstone National Park in 1966. It moved into higher elevation whitebark pine forests in subsequent years. Since little reliable information existed on the build up and effects of outbreaks, two trend plots were established along the western border of Yellowstone National Park to measure annual tree losses through the infestation cycle. One plot was located in an almost pure lodgepople pine forest at 6,400 feet elevation and another was established at about 8,400 feet in a mixed forest of lodgepole pine and whitebark pine. Tree losses were measured for several years until the infestations subsided. In subsequent years, however, natural and man-caused forces significantly altered the forests in and near the trend plots. These changes included: A resurgence of the beetle outbreak in the Park in 1979, clearcutting of beetle-damaged stands along much of the western border of the Park (cover), and the massive wildfires that burned over half a million acres of forest in 1988. In response to these changes, we decided to resample the trend plots in 1990 to further document the aftermath of the beetle outbreak from 1966 to 1984.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Parker, Douglas; Stipe, Lawrence
- Date of Issue
- 1993-09
- Publisher
- US Forest Service, Southwestern Region
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Ecology, Elevation, FIRE, Fire Ecology, Forest, Infestations, Insects and Arachnids, Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta), Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), Plant Studies, Trees