I wish to make one point regarding the article "About those tiny giant-slayers", which states, "Bark beetles are notorious for devastating groves of pines and fir in densely forested areas, but until recently, giant sequoias were seemingly immune. This is no longer believed to be true, and changed conditions in the last decade. "
A distinct species of bark beetle may have evolved due to changing conditions, but I believe the article would have been stronger had it discussed the fact that the agencies have been complicit in contributing to changing giant sequoia grove conditions by opening the canopy in those groves with via continuous vegetation management manipulations.
I read that climate change is causing more bark beetle infestations… no big surprise there. Just thinking that between the problems the various gov’t agencies have in doing ANYTHING in the sequoias ( thanks to complex agency actions… that chart you included says it all!…and piled up lawsuits from various action groups .. more like INaction…we would all do better working on our carbon footprints than trying to get anything done for the sequoias….sadly. The big picture of man’s worldwide destructiveness hamstrings everything. It looks like we must first save the planet if we want to save the sequoias! No small feat, and definitely much harder to accomplish.
A warming climate has allowed beetles that previously died in the cold of winter to survive and be joined with their next generation contributing to the imbalance in the beetle population that's devastating the trees.
I wish to make one point regarding the article "About those tiny giant-slayers", which states, "Bark beetles are notorious for devastating groves of pines and fir in densely forested areas, but until recently, giant sequoias were seemingly immune. This is no longer believed to be true, and changed conditions in the last decade. "
A distinct species of bark beetle may have evolved due to changing conditions, but I believe the article would have been stronger had it discussed the fact that the agencies have been complicit in contributing to changing giant sequoia grove conditions by opening the canopy in those groves with via continuous vegetation management manipulations.
I read that climate change is causing more bark beetle infestations… no big surprise there. Just thinking that between the problems the various gov’t agencies have in doing ANYTHING in the sequoias ( thanks to complex agency actions… that chart you included says it all!…and piled up lawsuits from various action groups .. more like INaction…we would all do better working on our carbon footprints than trying to get anything done for the sequoias….sadly. The big picture of man’s worldwide destructiveness hamstrings everything. It looks like we must first save the planet if we want to save the sequoias! No small feat, and definitely much harder to accomplish.
A warming climate has allowed beetles that previously died in the cold of winter to survive and be joined with their next generation contributing to the imbalance in the beetle population that's devastating the trees.
Sad but informative news about bark beetles attacking sequoias.