Devastation

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted August 28, 2010876 views8 comments

by the Pine Bark Beetle
My last visit to the Tetons was very distressing. The area by Scwabacher's Landing has been devastated by the Pine Bark Beetle, and the once-perfect vista with reflections in the beaver pond is no longer.

Pine bark beetles cannot invade healthy pine trees that have sufficient internal water pressure. However, due to many years of drought conditions in the Inland Northwest and West, these beetles attack and kill weakened trees that are out of water balance. In spring they bore into trees and emit pheromones (substances that affect behavior of other insects) that attract masses of additional bark beetles.
Bark beetles damage trees by tunneling between the bark and the wood (cambium layer) to lay eggs.

Developing larvae continue tunneling as they feed. This damage under the bark prevents water and nutrient movement within the tree. In addition, bark beetles carry a fungus that clogs the water transport sytem. All these factors pose a serious threat to the survival of our pine trees.

D300
18-200mm @ 24mm
1/60 sec, f/8
Mode: Av
Metering: Multi-segment
ISO: 200
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on August 29, 2010 at 12:03 AM

Uploaded the wrong version - here is the sharpened one.

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on August 29, 2010 at 10:01 AM

Interesting image. It is saddening to see mountain sides with nearly all the trees dead or dying. Thanks for sharing. Good photo, nice composition and exposure. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on September 1, 2010 at 1:51 PM

Sandy, good image to illustrate your point, which is what PJ is all about. All the more effective since the ugliness of the dead trees contrasts so much with an otherwise beautiful scene.

Years ago I worked on effortss to control bark beetles using pheromones rather than toxic pesticides, but success was limited to a few local situations. Man's efforts to correct his mistakes (such as introducing invasive species) sometimes work, but in most cases, in the long run, Nature will either replace the lost trees with survivors of the same species which are disease or drought resistant, or with trees of another species, which is what happened with the American Chestnut. In this case, I wonder if global climate change is the real problem, and if humans have the collective will to change enough to stop or reverse our effect on climate.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments

Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on September 2, 2010 at 6:53 PM

Yeah, that's pretty bad. The Winds are even worse! I have a feeling we are going to have a seriously huge fire in one of these areas in the next few years....

Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on September 5, 2010 at 10:44 PM

Sandy: One of my favorite places on the planet. I'm glad I have a pre-beetle image in my portfolio. I wonder if the infestation will cause the beavers to migrate away from this longstanding pond complex. Thanks for sharing, I think

. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Gallo on September 6, 2010 at 6:21 AM

Congrats on your EP Sandy, interesting explanation on the Beetle

Registered on September 14, 2005, 182 Posts, 1471 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on September 12, 2010 at 1:53 AM

Nicolaus is right, the Winds are far worse--virtually destroyed by the beetle. The devestation there spread like wildfire--i watched my favorite spots die one by one. Colorado has been severely affected, millions of acres of dead trees. Very sad indeed, probably the greatest ecologic disaster in recent history and it gets very little attention by the press, course there's not much we can do about it but folks are unwilling to face reality. The truth is, as politically painful to some that it may be, that warmer winters are a primary if not the primary cause of the epidemic--it just takes a few degrees of warmer weather to allow an explosive population. No one wants to adress the reality of climate change because of the political implicaitons.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on September 15, 2010 at 2:09 AM

Thanks Sandy, for this wonderful image and your informative commentary. We noticed this in the Tetons too on our recent travels; many other places were affected also, and we found ourselves making mournful commentary in comparing our mind's eye memories of these incredible areas with what we currently saw. Congrats on the EP.

Thanks to the other's who commented before me. Amen, everyone. We're so far into deep trouble, it is almost impossible to realize it or to understand how to reverse what we have done. OR people do realize what needs to be done and are unwilling to make the sacrifice…

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments