From: JOHN M. PYE:S29L03A
Date: ## 10/02/95 12:57 ##
Southern pine beetle spots are indeed less common in stands with
lower pine densities, although they do prefer the older, slower
growing trees necessary for nest cavities for the RCW. Perhaps
equally important to increased SPB is the species shift we've seen in
much of the RCW's original range. Afforestation from old fields and
reduced fire frequencies, plus more recently planting activities,
have shifted much of the region's landscape away from longleaf pine
and toward loblolly. Longleaf is much more resistant to SPB than
loblolly. Let's not forget that the open forests referred to by early
settlers was likely in part due to purposeful burning by resident
indians.
Previous comments:
From: Garland L. Wheeler:X400
Date: ## 10/02/95 10:55 ##
From: C=US/ADMD=ATTMAIL/ORG=ATTMAIL/PN=Garland GL Wheeler/
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When I was in forestry school a few decades ago, there were outbreaks of southern pine beetles in the southeast. At that time it was noted that for some reason beetle outbreaks were unknown in Arkansas. Now such outbreaks have become common. The forest that existed in the pine belt when the Europeans began their expansion was much more open that it is today. This is clear from the earlier explorer's accounts. One could "drive a wagon" through forest, visibility through the forest was a half mile or more. This type of forest had wildflowers that fed predators and parasites of SPB. Apparently it was also more favorable to the RCW. This type of open forest existed until the 1920's or so. Perhaps the frequency of SPB outbreaks are a consequence of the more dense forest stands that are now maintained and the value of the RCW is the cost of these outbreaks. It may be that the RCW was a significant predator of the SPB or its favored habitat was not conducive to SPB epidemics.
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