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Effects of fire return rates on traversability of lodgepole pine forests for mountain pine beetle (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) and the use of patch metrics to estimate traversability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2012

Huge J. Barclay ,
Chao Li ,
Laura Benson ,
Steve Taylor  and
Terry Shore
Huge J. Barclay*
Affiliation:
Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8Z 1M5
Chao Li
Affiliation:
Northern Forestry Centre, 5320–122 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6H 3S5
Laura Benson
Affiliation:
Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8Z 1M5
Steve Taylor
Affiliation:
Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8Z 1M5
Terry Shore
Affiliation:
Pacific Forestry Centre, 506 West Burnside Road, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8Z 1M5
*
1 Corresponding author (e-mail: hbarclay@nrcan.gc.ca).
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Abstract

Monte-Carlo simulation was used to examine the effects of fire return rates on the equilibrium age structure of a one-million-hectare lodgepole pine forest (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Wats.; Pinaceae) and yielded a mosaic of ages over the one million hectares for each fire regime modelled. These mosaics were used to generate mosaics of susceptibility to mountain pine beetle (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902) attack. This susceptibility was related to the age distribution to calculate the mean susceptibility of the forest. Susceptibility maps were produced for two timber supply areas in British Columbia, as well as for the whole of B.C. In addition, we defined a quality, called traversability, that describes the ability of a beetle population to disperse across a landscape according to defined rules of susceptibility and maximum distance for dispersal through unsuitable habitat. Using each of 40 combinations of susceptibility classifications and dispersal limits, the landscape was categorized as traversable or non-traversable. This represents the suitability of a landscape to the unimpeded spread of an incipient beetle population. It was found that (i) long fire cycles yield an age structure highly susceptible to beetle attack; (ii) fire suppression reduces the frequency of fires and yields an age structure highly susceptible to beetle attack; and (iii) harvesting one age class reduces the mean susceptibility to MPB attack, and this reduction decreases with increasing harvest age and increasing fire cycle length. When fires were limited in size to less than 100 ha, the area was always traversable. For larger fires, traversability declined, and for the largest fires (up to one million hectares), the area was often not traversable. Harvesting reduced the mean susceptibility and traversability, often substantially. Traversability was calculated for the whole of B.C. in blocks of about one million hectares using B.C. Ministry of Forests and Range inventory data for the year 2000. The area most traversable was the area around Tweedsmuir Park and the Lakes Timber Supply Area, where most of the present outbreak of MPB is centred. FRAGSTATS patch metrics were calculated for each of the simulations and were related to traversability using discriminant analysis. This analysis was then applied to the B.C. inventory; the concordance was high, with 93.3% of conditions being correctly classified.

Résumé

Une simulation de Monte Carlo nous a servi à examiner les effets de la fréquence des feux sur la structure d'âges à l'équilibre d'une forêt d'un million d'hectares de pins vrillés (Pinus contorta var. latifolia ex S. Wats.; Pinaceae) et a fourni une mosaïque des âges sur le million d'hectares pour chacun des régimes de feux modélisés. Ces mosaïques permettent de générer des mosaïques de vulnérabilité aux attaques du dendroctone du pin ponderosa (MPB) (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, 1902). Cette vulnérabilité associée à la distribution des âges sert à calculer la vulnérabilité moyenne de la forêt. Nous avons produit des cartes de vulnérabilité pour deux régions de production de bois en Colombie-Britannique, ainsi que pour l'ensemble de la province. De plus, nous définissons une caractéristique, la pénétrabilité, qui décrit la possibilité qu'a une population de coléoptères de se disperser dans un paysage d'après des règles définies de vulnérabilité et de la distance maximale de la dispersion à travers un habitat défavorable. À l'aide de 40 combinaisons de catégories de vulnérabilité et de limites à la dispersion, le paysage peut être caractérisé comme pénétrable ou non pénétrable. Cela représente la possibilité de dispersion sans encombre d'une nouvelle population de coléoptères dans un paysage donné. Nous avons observé que (i) les longs cycles de feux entraînent des structures d'âges qui sont très vulnérables à l'attaque des coléoptères, (ii) la suppression des feux réduit la fréquence des feux et permet une structure d'âges très vulnérable aux coléoptères et (iii) la récolte d'une classe d'âge réduit la vulnérabilité moyenne aux attaques de MPB et cette réduction diminue en fonction de l'accroissement de l'âge de la classe récoltée et de la longueur des cycles de feux. Quand les feux sont limités à des surfaces de moins de 100 ha, la région est toujours pénétrable. La pénétrabilité décline lors les feux plus importants et elle devient souvent nulle lors des feux les plus étendus (jusqu'à 1 million d'hectares). La récolte réduit la vulnérabilité moyenne et la pénétrabilité, souvent de façon substantielle. Nous avons calculé la pénétrabilité pour l'ensemble de la C.-B. en parcelles d'environ 1 million d'hectares à l'aide des données d'inventaire de l'an 2000 du Ministère des forêts et des prairies (Ministry of Forests and Range). La région la plus facilement pénétrable est celle des environs du parc Tweedsmuir et de la région de production de bois des Lacs, où l'épidémie actuelle de MPB est concentrée. Nous avons calculé les métriques des parcelles par FRAGSTATS pour chacune des simulations et les avons reliées à la pénétrabilité par analyse discriminante. Nous avons appliqué le modèle à l'inventaire de la C.-B. et obtenu une concordance élevée puisque 93,3 % des situations sont classées correctement.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 137 , Issue 5 , October 2005 , pp. 566 - 583
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 2005

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