These beetles are far from boring
Boring Beetles play an important role in the survival of beautiful forests in Canada since they kill mature or old lodgepole pine trees. How do they do it? Read on...
Beetles, like other creatures in nature, are a very important part of the ecosystem. The picture you see is that of a beetle in the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian Rockies shelter some of the world’s largest and best national parks which offer some of the most spectacular scenery. The two world-famous parks are Banff and Jasper.
The coniferous trees with the snow-capped mountains as backdrop leave visitors gasping for breath. The lakes in the park are beautiful in themselves with their crystal clear turquoise coloured water. More importantly, one can see the reflection of the trees and mountains in them which gives a picture postcard view.
The Boring Beetles are a species called Mountain Pine Beetle. They play an important role in the survival of the beautiful forest since they kill mature or old lodgepole pine trees by “boring” or drilling into them. This is a blessing since it enables new species of plants and animals to thrive.
Now, however, there is an over-population of these beetles, causing them to “attack” the park. How does this happen? In the summer of 2010 a biologist conducted aerial and ground surveys in one area of the park and found 1,400 trees had been attacked by the Mountain Pine Beetles in Jasper National Park.
Till then, Jasper had not been affected by this phenomenon, which not only affects the beautiful view but also increases the threat of forest fires. When the trees become bare and parched, they are vulnerable to forest fires and even a streak of lighting can cause a forest fire which, if not controlled, can damage thousands of acres of parkland.
It is thus evident that the beetles, unless properly “managed” can cause havoc to tourism and logging. Thus the economies of two major Provinces (States) in Canada – Alberta and British Columbia – are affected badly.
Biologists who set out to ‘manage’ these beetles have concluded that “the mountain pine beetle is here and unless the weather co-operates in a very special way, we’re soon going to get very badly hit”.
When they say, “weather has to co-operate”, what do they mean? When asked for a clarification, the biologists explained that the temperature has to be – 35 degrees Celsius or cooler for several weeks to kill the beetles and prevent deadly forest fires.
Forest Fires literally “spread like wildfire”, and such an event could be disastrous involving even maybe closure of the parks till the fire is controlled.
Thousands of acres of parks and million-dollar views are involved here so one hopes the Special Mountain Pine Beetle Management team is able to control the growth of this important but potentially hazardous marvel of nature.
