Mountain pine beetle population decimated in Jasper National Park after consecutive deep freezes

Parks Canada reports that mountain pine beetle populations have practically bottomed out in Jasper National Park.

The most recent population survey shows that their numbers have fallen by 94 percent since their most recent peak in 2019.

The survey also shows a sharp decline in trees killed by mountain pine beetle for the fourth consecutive year.

Parks Canada resource conservation officer Dave Argument said he expects to see a continued decline in the mountain pine beetle.

“This year’s survey results are not a surprise to us. They are confirmation of the good news story we have seen.”

It was the unforgettable cold season of the winter of 2019 that really started to significantly decrease the population of mountain pine beetles.

Parks Canada has conducted two surveys of the situation each year, the first of which is the overwintering larvae survival survey, otherwise called the R-value survey.

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Mountain Pine Beetle Devastates Jasper Forests

This occurs in the spring when surveyors can peel off a piece of bark in a test area so they can count the larvae, both live and dead, underneath.

If they find no live larvae, they will then burrow into the base of the tree, which would have been covered by an insulating blanket of snow during the winter.

That’s where the beetle larvae would have a better chance of surviving even the bitterest cold.

“It was probably in the last three winters where we had really good winter conditions that killed those overwintering larvae to the point where now this year’s survey – no larvae found at all. Not a single live larva was found,” Argument said.

“There is effectively no growth.”

Later in the year, Parks conducts an aerial survey of a wider section of Jasper National Park. It provides an unparalleled vantage point for the visible signs of those red trees on the landscape as a way to detect previously undiscovered pockets of infestation.

That survey also helps map the total area affected by the mountain pine beetle.

In 2019, the aerial survey showed a 30 percent increase in area over the previous year, totaling approximately 230,000 hectares.

This year’s aerial survey was completed in August and covered 6.88 million hectares. The final report came in showing only 95.2 acres with faded leaves, the sign of a mountain pine beetle-infested tree.

“It’s an incredibly small area relative to the big picture of the park. Some of that may be an effect of other types of forest insects — bark beetles and wood-boring beetles — that have killed already weakened trees. But to say only 95 hectares of this year’s affected trees – that basically means a beetle is done. It collapsed. And it’s gone,” Argument said.

“That’s really good news. They are finished in Jasper for the time being, which we are of course very pleased with.”

More than 2.4 million hectares of forest across Alberta have been affected by the spread of mountain pine beetle. Almost all the pine trees were killed in the worst affected areas.

The threat of resurgence still exists in some areas, including the Bow Valley, Kananaskis and Crowsnest Pass.

For those regions, Alberta’s mountain pine beetle management plan is moving into its next phase. This means partnering with local and indigenous contractors to control beetle activity with targeted single-tree cutting and burning, as well as whole-tree felling and harvesting of entire areas of affected pine trees as needed.

Ground operations are already underway to manage those sites.

Last year, the average number of infected trees per site dropped to around three. This is the lowest level reported since the province’s management program began. That’s a far cry from the peak of more than 18 per site in 2009.

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Alberta is calling on Ottawa to do more to combat the mountain pine beetle

This is particularly welcome news for Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism. A news release issued last week noted that Alberta has 5.5 million hectares of pine trees susceptible to the mountain pine beetle. The value of these pines is more than $11 billion, the release said.

“I am pleased to see that our approach to controlling the spread of mountain pine beetles and favorable weather trends is having such a positive impact in many areas around the province, and we will continue to protect our forests for future generations,” Loewen said. said.

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