Book Description

The Canadian government announced the Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative (MPBI) in 2002 to address the socio-economic and ecological consequences of an epidemic of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins). The objective of this study was to establish baseline information on the ecological characteristics that occur at different stages of succession, resulting from mountain pine beetle disturbance at different time intervals. Key issues addressed by this study were: the post-beetle ecological character of stands; the ecological legacies that should be sought post-beetle; maintenance of ecological integrity in beetle-damaged landscapes; and the impacts of beetles on regeneration. This paper presents a study of stand conditions following two historic mountain pine beetle outbreaks events in the 1940s and 1980s. The study quantified structural and species composition of stands at different stages of succession (25 years and 65 years), and quantified the differences that occur in forest development between stands with and without disturbance by the beetle. It concludes with several recommendations for management of post-disturbance landscapes.