- The mountain pine beetle prefers mature timber. After 80 years, lodgepole pine
trees are generally classed as being mature.
- B.C. is believed to have three times more mature lodgepole pine than it did
over 90 years ago, mainly because equipment and techniques for protecting forests
against wildfire have greatly improved over time.
- Cold weather kills mountain pine beetle larvae. Sustained
temperatures of -25° Celsius in the early fall or late spring, and -40
Celsius in the winter are needed to control populations.
- Hot and dry summers leave pine drought-stressed and more susceptible to attack
by the mountain pine beetle.
- When sections forests were cut down, all of the pine that was replanted is the
same age and the MPB thrive once the the trees grow old and weak.
- The beetles introduce a bluestain fungus into the sapwood of the tree that prevents
the tree from repelling and killing the attacking beetles with pitch flow. It also blocks
water and nutrient translocation within the tree.
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