A Changing Landscape

A Changing Landscape. . , The Black Hills and other forests within the Rocky Mountains region have suffered epidemic mountain pine beetle attacks in recent years. The beetles are native to the Black Hills and commonly infest a few trees throughout the forest. However, the combination of drought conditions and a high density of trees led to the attack in the Black Elk Wilderness Area that spread into the Sylvan Lake, Cathedral Spires, Little Devil's Tower and the Needles Eye area infecting nearly 3,000 acres in Custer State Park., In 2009-10, Custer State Park took a proactive approach against the beetles by not just cutting, but also removing infested trees from this area. The main tree affected in the Black Hills is the ponderosa pine., The Culprit , The mountain pine beetle is a small insect, the size of a grain of rice, that lives most of its life in the inner bark of pine trees. The tunneling under the bark by the adult beetle, the feeding larvae, and the introduction of a blue-stain fungus disrupts the movement of food from the needles to the roots, killing the tree., What the Future Holds , The effort in Custer State Park to control the spread of mountain pine beetles has been ongoing since 2005. The beetle population within Custer State Park grew from 2004-2009 and held steady in 2009-2010. By managing the forest in a way that discourages infestation, the techniques applied appear to have stabilized population growth within the park., Our hope is that we have reduced the pressure from the beetles in this area, making the trees less susceptible to an attack and lowering the mortality of trees in the future., Captions Mountain pine beetle larvae , Actual size of larvae galleries, or trails, of larvae and holes of pupae , Adult mountain pine beetle , Actual size of adult , Pitch tubes - A tree's defense against initial beetle attacks