Susceptibility of forests at Great Smoky Mountains National Park USA to defoliation by Lymantria dispar
Barrett HR, Nodvin SC, Powell DS, Langdon KR. 1990. Susceptibility of forests at Great Smoky Mountains National Park USA to defoliation by Lymantria dispar. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 71(2):86
The gypsy moth, Lymantridae: Lymantria dispar, is an introduced insect pest which in a peak year (1981) defoliated 51/.i million hectares of hardwood forests in the US. Although the southward advancing front of the moth population now exists in northern Virginia, small numbers of moths have been trapped in and around the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GRSM). In order to assess the areas sensitive to defoliation at GRSM, we evaluated factors including: vegetation type, disturbance history, elevation, topography, and proximity to roads and campgrounds. In a preliminary analysis utilizing a park-wide vegetation. map (90m2 pixel resolution) based upon Landsat imagery, we identified 5 out of 13 vegetation types (72"A> of the park area) to be at some risk to defoliation. Two types, Xeric Oak and Mesic Oak (each about 10% of the total park area which is 206,300 ha) are likely to be at high risk. Almost 47,000 ha of the park has been identified as "undisturbed" or old growth. Two majo rvegetation components of undisturbed areas at GRSM, Cove Hardwood and Mixed Mesic Hardwood, are at some risk to defoliation and smaller components, Mesic Oak and Xeric Oak, are at high risk.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Barrett, Hope; Nodvin, Stephen; Powell, D; Langdon, Keith
- Units
- GRSM
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Gypsy Moth (Lymantria dispar), NC, TN