Preliminary Observations and Reflections of Whitebark Pine Regeneration
on June Mountain, following a Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak.
By Martin MacKenzie.
forest pathologist
Fire
Volcanoes
Disease
DISTURBANCE
Drought
Ecosystem Restoration
“ Climax Forest Type ? ”
Insect outbreaks
Earthquakes
.
Fire
Climate Change
DISTURBANCE
Ecosystem Restoration
(in place)
Drought
Insect outbreaks
Invasives
“Ecosystem Restoration”
.
Height 23 inches
Span
21 inches
Number of stems in cluster 2
Largest diameter 0.79 in.
Martin MacKenzie
The Largest
21 inches
23 inches
0.79 in
Age ?
50?
30
10
55?
40
20
55 years
+/- 5yrs
55 years to make 2 ft.
100+ to make B.H. ?
Notice since the overstory began to die
the
2012 growth = the previous 3 combined.
2012
50?
30
10
20
40
55?
Messing around with data;
I have one tree in which the growth rings
were so tight that
that was only 4 – 6 tracheids each year
growth equated to 248 rings per inch !
This species plays a waiting game and matches its
physiology to whatever nature gives it. So getting a
plantation in one year may not be realistic at high
elevations
12 seedlings, but are they LPP or WBP ?
If the main stem
was 120 yrs old,
how old is the branch?
These trees will be selected for climate change resistance,
and later rescreened for rust resistance !
Tree # 1
Height 46 inches
Age
75 +/- 5 years
Cluster
# Trees
Height
Age
# 443
5
9 inches
21 +/- 3 years
Five white bark seedlings can be seen surrounded by old (open)
lodgepole cones. In this view there are at least 15 old cones but
not a single lodgepole seedling and as the 9 inch tall cluster is
about 21 years old the whitebark has obviously given the lodgepole
seeds a chance to germinate. I conclude that this piece of June
Mountain is obviously a whitebark site, and one that will come back
in whitebark.
Down here
transects are
all LPP
Seedling transects to be run
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Limber pine, Pinus flexilis (Lanner and Vander Wall, 1980).
Southwestern white pine, P. strobiformis (Benkman et al, 1984).
Singleleaf pinyon, P. monophyla (Tomback, 1978).
Colorado pinyon P. edulis (Vander Wall & Balda, 1977).
Ponderosa pine P. ponderosa (Giuntoli & Mewalt, 1978).
6. I document the caching of a 6th pine species; Pinus contorta
7. and an occasional 7th Pinus jeffreyi
Western North American spread
Dates of detection
1922
Distribution by
Eric Smith, 2003
1923
1921
1930
1950
1970
2000+
2000+
2004- Bristlecone pine
1998 southwestern
white pine
California White Pine Hosts
Whitebark
Western White
Sugar
Foxtail
Bristlecone
Dave Powell, forestimages.org
Life Cycle of North American
Cronartium ribicola
basidiospores
meiosis
(n)
pycnia
(n)
(n + n  2n  n)
teliospores Ribes/non-ribes Five-needle pines fertilization
Telial hosts
Aecial host
(n + n)
aeciospores
cycles
on leaves
urediniospores
Zambino 2007
WPBR
Ribes to Pine can spread a few miles
basidiospores
Ribes/etc
on leaves
WBP
aeciospores
Pine to Ribes can spread 300 miles
Zambino 2007
Aeciospores
•
•
•
•
•
Early Spring
White papery covering
Powdery
Wind disseminated
Yellow  White
Pine to Ribes
can spread 300 miles
All 5 needle pines
WBP Only !
June Mt.
Photo Lisa Zander
Tomback & Linhart (1990)
Evolutionary Ecology
1990, 4 :185 - 219
Cone Crop
2011 ++++
2012 ++
2013 0
2014 ?
Fire
Climate Change
DISTURBANCE
Ecosystem Restoration
(in place)
Drought
Insect outbreaks
Invasives
Ecosystem Conservation
(in place)
Ecosystem Restoration
in a new place,
or in place as a resilient
re-configuration.
Fire
Climate Change
JUNE MOUNTAIN
Ecosystem Restoration
(in place)
Drought
Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak
Invasives
Observe the release of the red fir
Encourage the existing WBP
seedlings
Monitor the advance of the LPP
Ecosystem Conservation
(in place)
Experiment with fire
treatments to; encourage
WBP seed caching without
favoring LPP; protect
advanced regeneration;
perfect direct seeding of
WBP etc.
Ecosystem Restoration
in place,
in a resilient re-configuration
Finis