The biology and management of bark beetles in old growth pine forests of Itasca State Park

Executive summary part II: Nutritional suitability of pine trees for bark beetles 
Downed trees of red pine, white pine, and jack pine can all provide excellent habitat for bark beetles. Increases in population size of up to 10-fold per generation are possible (Fig. 1.2). Thus, a local population of 1000 I. pini could increase to 1,000,000 I. pini over three generations from May to October. A single downed tree could produce as many as 80,000 bark beetles. These data substantiate the concern that blowdowns can lead to rapid dramatic increases in the abundance of bark beetles.


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