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From Garden State EnviroNews
A CREEPING DEATH IN THE PINES
Date: 021114
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/
TINY BEETLE CONSUMING ACRES OF TREES
By Jack Kaskey, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7213, JKaskey@pressofac.com
Press of Atlantic City, November 14, 2002
A tiny beetle first discovered in the state less than a year ago
already has attacked 2,500 acres of forest at hundreds of locations
across southern New Jersey, killing an estimated half-million pine
trees and threatening many more, state foresters say.
The southern pine beetle is native to the Southeast, where it has
destroyed millions of acres of forest. It has been documented
occasionally in Delaware and southern Pennsylvania, but never before
in New Jersey.
The southern pine beetle has succeeded in gaining a foothold north of
its native range because New Jersey has been abnormally warm in recent
years and because a prolonged drought has weakened trees, said Joseph
Battersby, a Mays Landing-based forester with the New Jersey Forest
Service.
The only thing likely to kill the beetles in New Jersey is an
extended cold snap, ideally three days of zero-degree temperatures, he
said.
"That's definitely the key here," Battersby said Wednesday.
The period from September 2001 to August 2002 tied the record for the
warmest 12-month period in New Jersey history, with an average
temperature 3 degrees warmer than normal, according to state
Climatologist Dave Robinson. That corresponds with the southern pine
beetle's discovery in Cumberland County in December and its dramatic
population increase.
An aerial survey this summer of 1.3 million acres in eight southern
counties, as well as ground surveys, identified 300 infestation areas
ranging from less than an acre to 250 acres, Battersby said.
In total, the southern pine beetle has infested 2,500 acres and
killed about 500,000 trees, mostly in northern Cape May County,
western Atlantic County and eastern Cumberland County.
Battersby said the problem is worse than expected.
"We didn't think it would get to this point," he said. "It's gone
from zero to 2,500 acres in a year. A similar percentage increase next
summer would be a real problem."
Battersby said the beetles attack all of New Jersey's native pine
species, but they seem to prefer pines growing in pitch pine lowlands,
distinct ecosystems that border swamps and streams.
No one is sure how the southern pine beetle got here. It could have
been blown here or carried in lumber, Battersby said. Perhaps it was
always here in low numbers, and conditions now are ripe for its
explosive growth, he said.
"Everybody has a different theory," Battersby said. "Nobody really
knows."
What foresters do know is that the beetles pose a double threat to
New Jersey. They threaten to wipe out vast stretches of forest in the
Pine Barrens, and the dead and dying trees dramatically raise the
danger of fire, Battersby said.
As the dying trees shed their needles and branches, the layer of
flammable material on the forest floor, called duff, has almost
doubled in one year, he said.
The dead trees standing in the midst of the thick duff are a serious
fire hazard. Some of those areas are precariously close to populated
areas, including Cape May Court House, Dennisville, Woodbine and
Seaville, he said.
The largest wilderness infestation is at Peaslee Wildlife Management
Area in Cape May County, where the beetles have killed 250 acres of
trees in a 6.5-mile circumference.
Other large infestations include 130 acres and 123 acres in
Belleplain State Forest, 119 acres in Lester G. MacNamara Wildlife
Management Area, 160 acres of private land southwest of Seaville, and
145 acres at Bear Swamp Natural Area.
Unlike another recently discovered New Jersey tree eater, the Asian
longhorn beetle, the southern pine beetle is native to North America
with natural enemies. However, the pine beetle's main predator, the
checkered beetle, is vastly outnumbered in New Jersey, Battersby said.
The U.S. Forest Service has pledged to help New Jersey combat the
pine beetle invasion, but it is not yet clear how much financial aid
is coming, state foresters said.
The New Jersey Forest Service soon will ask the Pinelands Commission
for expedited approval to implement control measures before the
spring, when the insects' hibernation ends and a new generation
emerges, Battersby said. Foresters want permission to cut and chip
trees on site, permission to cut and leave them on site, and
permission to rehabilitate cut sites with pine seedlings. No
pesticides will be sprayed, he said.
Without rehabilitation, blueberry and greenbriar will take over the
sites, followed by sweet gum, red maple and perhaps oak.
Among the priority areas the Forest Service hopes to control are the
20 northern most infested sites, which stretch roughly from Estell
Manor to Vineland.
"We are thinking about making a line of defense there, just try to
hold that line as much as we can," Battersby said.
Other priority sites to be controlled are infestations at
campgrounds, such as Belleplain, and historical tree plantings, some
that date to World War II.
Infestations can be identified by the BB-sized holes that adult
beetles make when leaving a dead tree, or by the gummy sap that oozes
from trees trying to ward off invasion.
The beetle spreads in the spring, when newly hatched pioneer beetles
fly as far as two miles in search of a weakened pine tree, often one
struck by lightning. The bugs burrow through the tree's bark, and then
dig S-shaped channels between the bark and the wood where they lay
their eggs.
Although only an eighth-inch long - half the size of a grain of
rice - the southern pine beetle emits a pheromone to attract thousands
of others to its victim. The bugs carry a blue-stain fungus that clogs
the tree's vascular systems, and the labyrinth of beetle tunnels
ultimately girdles the tree.
Once a population is established in a single tree, the bugs move to
adjacent, healthy trees, spreading through a pine forest as fast as 50
feet a day, and completely killing swaths as large as 1,000 acres.
The dead trees remain standing, their needles turning from green to
yellow to brown in four months, creating potential for fires.
A CREEPING DEATH IN THE PINES
Date: 021114
From: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/
TINY BEETLE CONSUMING ACRES OF TREES
By Jack Kaskey, Staff Writer, (609) 272-7213, JKaskey@pressofac.com
Press of Atlantic City, November 14, 2002
A tiny beetle first discovered in the state less than a year ago
already has attacked 2,500 acres of forest at hundreds of locations
across southern New Jersey, killing an estimated half-million pine
trees and threatening many more, state foresters say.
The southern pine beetle is native to the Southeast, where it has
destroyed millions of acres of forest. It has been documented
occasionally in Delaware and southern Pennsylvania, but never before
in New Jersey.
The southern pine beetle has succeeded in gaining a foothold north of
its native range because New Jersey has been abnormally warm in recent
years and because a prolonged drought has weakened trees, said Joseph
Battersby, a Mays Landing-based forester with the New Jersey Forest
Service.
The only thing likely to kill the beetles in New Jersey is an
extended cold snap, ideally three days of zero-degree temperatures, he
said.
"That's definitely the key here," Battersby said Wednesday.
The period from September 2001 to August 2002 tied the record for the
warmest 12-month period in New Jersey history, with an average
temperature 3 degrees warmer than normal, according to state
Climatologist Dave Robinson. That corresponds with the southern pine
beetle's discovery in Cumberland County in December and its dramatic
population increase.
An aerial survey this summer of 1.3 million acres in eight southern
counties, as well as ground surveys, identified 300 infestation areas
ranging from less than an acre to 250 acres, Battersby said.
In total, the southern pine beetle has infested 2,500 acres and
killed about 500,000 trees, mostly in northern Cape May County,
western Atlantic County and eastern Cumberland County.
Battersby said the problem is worse than expected.
"We didn't think it would get to this point," he said. "It's gone
from zero to 2,500 acres in a year. A similar percentage increase next
summer would be a real problem."
Battersby said the beetles attack all of New Jersey's native pine
species, but they seem to prefer pines growing in pitch pine lowlands,
distinct ecosystems that border swamps and streams.
No one is sure how the southern pine beetle got here. It could have
been blown here or carried in lumber, Battersby said. Perhaps it was
always here in low numbers, and conditions now are ripe for its
explosive growth, he said.
"Everybody has a different theory," Battersby said. "Nobody really
knows."
What foresters do know is that the beetles pose a double threat to
New Jersey. They threaten to wipe out vast stretches of forest in the
Pine Barrens, and the dead and dying trees dramatically raise the
danger of fire, Battersby said.
As the dying trees shed their needles and branches, the layer of
flammable material on the forest floor, called duff, has almost
doubled in one year, he said.
The dead trees standing in the midst of the thick duff are a serious
fire hazard. Some of those areas are precariously close to populated
areas, including Cape May Court House, Dennisville, Woodbine and
Seaville, he said.
The largest wilderness infestation is at Peaslee Wildlife Management
Area in Cape May County, where the beetles have killed 250 acres of
trees in a 6.5-mile circumference.
Other large infestations include 130 acres and 123 acres in
Belleplain State Forest, 119 acres in Lester G. MacNamara Wildlife
Management Area, 160 acres of private land southwest of Seaville, and
145 acres at Bear Swamp Natural Area.
Unlike another recently discovered New Jersey tree eater, the Asian
longhorn beetle, the southern pine beetle is native to North America
with natural enemies. However, the pine beetle's main predator, the
checkered beetle, is vastly outnumbered in New Jersey, Battersby said.
The U.S. Forest Service has pledged to help New Jersey combat the
pine beetle invasion, but it is not yet clear how much financial aid
is coming, state foresters said.
The New Jersey Forest Service soon will ask the Pinelands Commission
for expedited approval to implement control measures before the
spring, when the insects' hibernation ends and a new generation
emerges, Battersby said. Foresters want permission to cut and chip
trees on site, permission to cut and leave them on site, and
permission to rehabilitate cut sites with pine seedlings. No
pesticides will be sprayed, he said.
Without rehabilitation, blueberry and greenbriar will take over the
sites, followed by sweet gum, red maple and perhaps oak.
Among the priority areas the Forest Service hopes to control are the
20 northern most infested sites, which stretch roughly from Estell
Manor to Vineland.
"We are thinking about making a line of defense there, just try to
hold that line as much as we can," Battersby said.
Other priority sites to be controlled are infestations at
campgrounds, such as Belleplain, and historical tree plantings, some
that date to World War II.
Infestations can be identified by the BB-sized holes that adult
beetles make when leaving a dead tree, or by the gummy sap that oozes
from trees trying to ward off invasion.
The beetle spreads in the spring, when newly hatched pioneer beetles
fly as far as two miles in search of a weakened pine tree, often one
struck by lightning. The bugs burrow through the tree's bark, and then
dig S-shaped channels between the bark and the wood where they lay
their eggs.
Although only an eighth-inch long - half the size of a grain of
rice - the southern pine beetle emits a pheromone to attract thousands
of others to its victim. The bugs carry a blue-stain fungus that clogs
the tree's vascular systems, and the labyrinth of beetle tunnels
ultimately girdles the tree.
Once a population is established in a single tree, the bugs move to
adjacent, healthy trees, spreading through a pine forest as fast as 50
feet a day, and completely killing swaths as large as 1,000 acres.
The dead trees remain standing, their needles turning from green to
yellow to brown in four months, creating potential for fires.