Tag Archives: Southern Pine Beetle

Flora & Fauna, Park Personnel, Park Projects

Monitoring for Southern Pine Beetle

Leave a comment

Earlier this year, the Invasive Species Management Team kicked off the spring with the installation of several southern pine beetle (SPB) traps at Minnewaska State Park Preserve and a few other locations. Southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, is a 2-4mm long bark beetle, reddish brown to black in color, that hails from the southeastern United States and attacks pine trees. The female will locate a host tree, most commonly one with a compromised defense system as noted by the presence of alpha-pinene, a chemical released by stressed trees. The females then release the pheromone frontalin to attract males for mating, as well as other males and females. Males also secrete a pheromone, endo-brevicomin, summoning more beetles to congregate. The beetles enter the trees through cracks in the bark. In an effort to eject the beetle, pine trees will produce resin to push them out. The resulting little, lumpy sap nuggets are called pitch tubes and are a good indicator of SPB infestation. Once in the tree, SPB starts constructing curved tubes, or galleries, in the cambium to lay their eggs in. It is in the cambium that we find the xylem and phloem tissue, which transports water and nutrients through the tree and therefore helping the tree growth. Larvae move to the inner bark immediately after hatching, and then to the outer bark to feed as they mature. When they become adults, they chew round exit holes in a “shotgun” pattern, large enough only to fit a pencil tip. The exit holes are another sign of infestation to be on the lookout for. The chewing of galleries disrupts the flow of water and nutrients, resulting in the needles fading and ultimately tree death in as little as 2-4 months. The Long Island Central Pine Barrens have been particularly damaged by SPB. This may be due in part to the lack of fire as a management technique to thin stands, reducing competition and therefore resulting in healthier trees. Additionally, smoke from fires overpowers the beetle’s pheromonal communication, thus impeding their spread.

Pitch tubes with southern pine beetle entering the tree, photo courtesy of NY Dept of Conservation.
Galleries chewed by adult southern pine beetles, photo courtesy of NY Dept of Conservation.

Because of how widespread SPB distribution has become, eradication of the species is simply not possible. The main method employed to suppress invasions is the cutting and removal of infested trees. A more proactive method includes monitoring pines for the early infestations of SPB to enable a rapid response to the arrival of SPB; bringing us back to Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The Sam’s Point area of Minnewaska is home to the only dwarf pine ridges ecosystem in the world, making it a globally unique and rare site. Therefore, monitoring for the arrival of SPB is imperative for the preservation of this rare pitch pine barrens as well as more common pitch pine communities of Minnewaska.

Nick and trap

Entomologist Tom Schmeelk with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) came to Minnewaska to hoist the traps and explain how they work. The traps used are Lindgren funnel traps, with a chain of funnels that mimics a tree stem. Several lures, or packets of pheromoneswere placed inside the trap which is then hung in a hardwood tree several feet off the ground and from the trunk. The lures utilized are frontalin, the sex pheromone secreted by females, and endo-brevicomin, the aggregation pheromone secreted by males. In addition, alpha-pinene was attached, a host volatile produced by stressed trees. The beetles are lured to the trap and funneled into a collection cup, the contents of which are sent to DEC to be checked for the presence of SPB.

For those concerned that the traps will attract beetles into the park that otherwise would’ve remained absent, rest assured that these are short-range traps that would only lure beetles within a few mile radius- meaning they only attract beetles already in the area. Being unaware of their presence in the park would be the much bigger risk to the park’s pine dominated ecosystems and all the species that depend on these, including the rare dwarf pines. Last year all the traps remained empty, let’s hope for the same this year!

Post by Sarantia Mitsinikos, Invasive Species Project Steward with SCA/Americorps/State Parks

Featured image: southern pine beetle, Steven Valley, Oregon Department of Agriculture, Bugwood.org

Flora & Fauna, Park Volunteers

Southern Pine Beetle in New York

Leave a comment

Southern pine beetle has killed thousands of pine trees since it was first found in New York State in 2014. This bark beetle is native to the southern United States, but arrived in New York after working its way northward for many years. Although the beetles are small (2-4 mm; less than 1/8th inch), they are able to kill trees in 2 to 4 months by attacking in large numbers. Once beneath the bark, the thousands of beetles create S-shaped tunnels as they feed on the inner bark, which soon cuts off the nutrients the tree needs to survive and grow.

Southern pine beetle adults somewhat resemble a chocolate sprinkle. These magnified adults are shown over a 1mm ruler. Photo credit: Molly Hassett, NYS DEC
S-shaped tunnels created by southern pine beetle are visible in this round “cookie” or slice of wood from beneath the bark of a pitch pine tree. Photo credit: NYS DEC

In New York, pitch pine trees have been attacked by southern pine beetle more than any other species. Pitch pine trees are often a part of unique, globally and statewide rare ecosystems such as Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Barrens, Pitch pine-oak heath woodlands, Pitch pine-heath barrens, Pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summits, Dwarf pine plains, and Dwarf pine ridges. In New York, southern pine beetle has been found in trees across Long Island and in traps as far north as Minnewaska State Park Preserve in the Shawangunk Ridge. Large forested and unique areas such as the Long Island Central Pine Barrens Preserve and the Shawangunk Ridge are of the highest priority to protect. Maps of the pitch pine communities of statewide significance created by NY Natural Heritage Program provide further guidance on priorities. Although there are no known means to eradicate southern pine beetle, there are measures to reduce the beetles’ impacts and save some of the susceptible pines.

Southern Pine Beetle Map, Tom Schmeelk, NYS DEC
Map of confirmed southern pine beetle infestations from ground surveys and traps as well as suspected infestations from aerial surveys. Photo credit: Scott McDonnell, NYS DEC

To help fight against southern pine beetle, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) Forest Health team has conducted trapping, aerial surveys, and ground surveys to monitor for the beetle and cut infested trees (suppression) to manage the beetle. Currently, suppression efforts are focused in the Central Pine Barrens of Long Island. In some cases, pines are replanted along trails or in areas where impacts have been high. The beetles do not attack small, young trees, so the hope is that some trees will survive and produce seed to maintain pine in these ecosystems.

A southern pine beetle trap hanging from a tree in pitch pine community. The traps are used to detect if beetles are in an area. Photo credit: Tom Schmeelk, NYS DEC
Infested pitch pine trees marked with flagging for suppression (cutting). Photo credit: Molly Hassett, NYS DEC
Southern pine beetle is expected to work its way up the Hudson River corridor. The pitch pine-oak-heath rocky summit community occurs scattered along the eastern NY ridges from the Hudson Valley to the Thousand Islands. DEC monitors sites across the region so that teams can act quickly to contain SPB outbreaks and slow the spread. Photo credit: J. Lundgren, NYNHP

In areas that the beetles were captured in traps, but were not found in trees, such as at Bear Mountain and Minnewaska State Parks, the focus continues to be on early detection and surveying for infested trees. DEC conducts aerial surveys over Bear Mountain and Minnewaska State Parks to map out areas potentially infested with the beetle. These aerial surveys are quickly followed up by ground surveys by DEC, State Parks, NYNJ Trail Conference, and others to verify if the trees are infested. So far, no ground surveys have found infested trees in either of these parks.

Efforts at Connetquot River State Park Preserve on Long Island, one of the hardest-hit areas, are focused on removal of dead trees. State Parks, with help from the Excelsior Conservation Corps (an AmeriCorps program) has been cutting down dead trees killed by southern pine beetle along trails to keep the trails safe and open to visitors. State Parks is also chipping up some of these dead trees to help speed up decomposition.

On the trunk of infested trees, the main symptom of southern pine beetle attack is an abundance of pitch tubes which are usually about the same size and color of popcorn. Photo credit: NYS DEC
Volunteers plant pitch pine trees in white protective netting along a trail at Connetquot River State Park. Hazard trees were cut (piled in the left of the picture) while some non-hazard dead pitch pines were left standing (visible in the background) to provide seeds (cones still present on trees), wildlife habitat, and forest structure. Photo credit: Molly Hassett, NYS DEC
Eastern towhees are common in pitch pine-oak communities and scrub oak shrublands. Photo credit: R. Marshall.

DEC, Parks and Trails New York, and State Parks co-sponsored tree planting as part of I Love My Park Day in Connetquot River State Park Preserve on May 7th, 2016. DEC’s Tree for Tributaries trained volunteers to plant the 600 pitch pine that were donated from New York State’s Saratoga Tree Nursery. The pitch pine trees were raised from seed originating from Long Island and will help maintain the local pitch pine genetics that is adapted to the conditions of Long Island. Through hazard tree mitigation, chipping, suppression, and re-planting pine trees in areas attacked by southern pine beetle such as Connetquot, hopes are that forests will remain safe for public use and maintain their pitch pine components in the wake of southern pine beetle.

Minnewaskafire_May2008_Lundgren27
Wildfires are nature’s way of thinning the pitch pine forests and woodlands and keeping these ecosystems healthy. Without fire the pines get too dense and are more susceptible to pests like the southern pine beetle. Mechanical thinning (cutting) can mimic some of the ecological processes of fire to benefit the communities of rare species and reduce SPB infestations. Photo credit: J. Lundgren, NYNHP.

For more information see NYS DEC’s website on Southern Pine Beetle.

For more information on The Southern Pine Beetle Response efforts, see The Southern Pine Beetle Management Plan.

For more information on pitch pine communities see the NYNHP Conservation Guides.  A few of these types are listed below:

Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Woodland

Pitch Pine-Oak Forest

Pitch Pine-Scrub Oak Barrens  (globally rare)

Pitch Pine-Oak-Heath Rocky Summit

For other pitch pine community types or to see what occurs in your county, go to guide.nynhp.org and type “pitch pine” into the advanced search box and check off the community category box.

Post by Molly Hassett, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation and Julie Lundgren, NY Natural Heritage Program