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Will the Mountain pine beetle epidemic spread from lodgepole pine into ponderosa pine along the northern Front Range counties of Colorado? Report to the Joint Ecology Working Group: Front Range Fuels Roundtable and the Colorado Bark Beetle Cooperative

Date

2009-03-24

Authors

Witcosky, Jeff, author

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Abstract

The current mountain pine beetle epidemic in northern Colorado started in the late 1990s west of the Continental Divide in lodgepole pine. For the most part the epidemic has been confined to lodgepole pine forests. Over the past four years, mountain pine beetle infestations have developed and expanded in high elevation lodgepole pine forests east of the Continental Divide. By 2007, populations of mountain pine beetle in lodgepole pine forests along the northern Front Range (Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, and Larimer Counties) had reached epidemic levels and were moving into the lodgepole pine/ponderosa pine transition zone. Members of northern Front Range communities have expressed concerns regarding the potential impacts of this beetle epidemic on ponderosa, limber, and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pines.

Description

Includes bibliographical references (pages 19-22).
Prepared by Jeff Witcosky, Forest Health Management, March 24, 2009.

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Subject

Colorado
mountain pine beetle
Hopkins Host Selection Principle
potential loss
restoration

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