Trouble in the Forest: Whitebark Pine Trees, Mountain Pine Beetles, and Climate Change

Abstract

Have you ever hiked up a mountain and felt a frosty wind blowing across your face? You might need to button up your jacket to visit this place, but here, whitebark pine trees are right at home. Whitebark pines thrive in the highest forests of western North America. In these environments, whitebark pines help other, less-hardy species to establish, grow, and survive. For this pine, chilly mountaintops provide a refuge from insects, disease, and competition with other trees. Yet as our climate changes, whitebark pines no longer have the cold on their side. They are dying at alarming rates, and one of the biggest killers is a tiny bark beetle. How is climate change helping this little insect munch through huge swaths of forest? National Park Service scientists use long-term monitoring studies to unravel this complicated relationship. This information guides resource managers entrusted with protecting whitebark pines.