Post by coolplanet on Mar 3, 2015 20:55:44 GMT -5
New hope for beetle-killed landscapes
Can native forest fungi combat the West's bark beetle epidemic?
Krista Langlois | Feb. 25, 2015 | Web Exclusive
From the air, they look like brittle, dead landscapes: millions of acres of scratchy
brown pipe cleaners and toothpick logs. Since the 1990s, naturally-occurring bark
beetles have multiplied under the effects of drought, climate change and fire-repressed
forests, leading to outbreaks that have ravaged forests and left land managers
scrambling to deal with a glut of dead trees. But 2015 may prove a turning
point.
The first hopeful news comes from the lab of Richard Hofstetter, a forest
entomologist at Northern Arizona University. Working with a private company
called Montana BioAgriculture, Hofstetter has identified a deadly strain of the
Beauveria bassiana fungus that kills 80 to 90 percent of pine beetles, one of the most
destructive bark beetle species of recent years. The fungus is naturally present in the
bark of some infected trees; Hofstetter and Montana BioAgriculture’s Cliff Bradley
simply collect it, propagate it and dissolve the spores into a liquid that forest
managers can spray on trees to help control local outbreaks.
Full article at www.hcn.org/articles/new-hope-for-beetle-killed-landscapes?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email
Can native forest fungi combat the West's bark beetle epidemic?
Krista Langlois | Feb. 25, 2015 | Web Exclusive
From the air, they look like brittle, dead landscapes: millions of acres of scratchy
brown pipe cleaners and toothpick logs. Since the 1990s, naturally-occurring bark
beetles have multiplied under the effects of drought, climate change and fire-repressed
forests, leading to outbreaks that have ravaged forests and left land managers
scrambling to deal with a glut of dead trees. But 2015 may prove a turning
point.
The first hopeful news comes from the lab of Richard Hofstetter, a forest
entomologist at Northern Arizona University. Working with a private company
called Montana BioAgriculture, Hofstetter has identified a deadly strain of the
Beauveria bassiana fungus that kills 80 to 90 percent of pine beetles, one of the most
destructive bark beetle species of recent years. The fungus is naturally present in the
bark of some infected trees; Hofstetter and Montana BioAgriculture’s Cliff Bradley
simply collect it, propagate it and dissolve the spores into a liquid that forest
managers can spray on trees to help control local outbreaks.
Full article at www.hcn.org/articles/new-hope-for-beetle-killed-landscapes?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email