MOISTURE CHANGES IN LODGEPOLE PINE BEFORE AND AFTER ATTACK BY THE MOUNTAIN PINE BEETLE

Abstract

The moisture content of the outer sapwood of non-infested lodgepole pine is normally about 85 to 165 per cent of oven dry weight. In trees that have been infested by the mountain pine beetle for one year, the sapwood moisture content can be as low as 16 per cent. There is a steep moisture gradient from about 160 per cent in the outer sapwood to about 30 per cent in the heart-wood. The moisture content in the centre is slightly higher than in the adjacent wood. In infested trees the sapwood moisture is greatly reduced within a year after the attack but moisture in the heartwood is not altered appreciably. Trees infested early in the season drop to a lower moisture content by fall than trees infested later in the season. In non-infested trees there is a diurnal and a seasonal moisture march; these do not occur in infested trees. The rapid moisture loss in the sapwood of infested trees is associated with blue-stain infection and successful establishment of bark-beetle broods