Long-term radial growth responses following large-scale mountain pine beetle induced canopy mortality in southeastern British Columbia, Canada

AMOROSO, MARIANO; RADINS, MARCOS; ASTRUP, RASMUS; COATES, DAVID

Conferencia; A Global Perspective on the Ecology and Management of Bark and Wood Boring Insects; 2015

INTA

A mountain pine beetle (MPB) epidemic has ravaged large areas of interior British Columbia (BC), Canada since late 1990´s with significant implications for ecosystem services including future timber supply. Information is needed on future stand dynamics in areas of impacted forests. Predicting how surviving trees will respond and grow is of critical importance for multiple forest values but most important to decide which stands should be salvaged logged or left unmanaged. We undertook a dendroecological retrospective study in southeastern BC where an intense MPB epidemic peaked in 1979-1980. Our objective was to gain insight into stand recovery as influenced by species-specific growth responses over time of surviving canopy trees. MPB mortality rates (percent of basal area killed by beetles) varied from 42 to 100%. In general, most surviving canopy trees exhibited positive and high radial growth rates (releases) after the attack but growth rates varied greatly 10 and 20 years after the attack. While in most cases growth rates decreased over time, some trees maintained the same rates or even increased. Overall, the growth response after the MPB epidemic was diverse over time suggesting long-term growth assessments, rather than initials, should be taken into account to prioritize salvaged logged operations.