next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
> other late successional tree species. Early entry harvesting
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--Boundary_(ID_0u8aKZfLIvdXRmYyDQ3kug)
Content-type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT
Also paper(s) somewhere that indicate that chemical agents merely
prolong the budworm cycle, similar to what you've said below. All in
all, it's best to accept it and "watch the show". Foresters know what
to do to mitigate wood losses. They choose not to for a number of reasons.
Donna Crossland
On 2018-06-20 10:01 PM, Hebda, Andrew J wrote:
>
> There was a publication from either the late 1950s or early 1960s by
> Dr R E Balch called the Ecological Viewpoint... It came from either
> an episode or a series from CBC University of the Air in which he
> discussed the impact of contemporary and historical use of forest
> insecticides altering the dynamics of the budworm populations through
> selecting for resistant forms.
>
> As I recall he noted that the cycling of those populations was regular
> and predictable with relatively clearly defined maxima and minima in
> population sizes He noted that the selective pressure of the chemicals
> reduced the cyclic nature of the species and resulted in an
> incremental increase in the "low levels" of the species, to the point
> where the base level of those populations was higher than the upper
> level o the normal population oscillations.
>
> The point being that climate change is not necessarily the principal
> driving force for specific species impacts. I will see if I can track
> down the publication (I think he may have been UNB Fredericton)
>
> A
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca]
> on behalf of Laviolette, Lance [lance.laviolette@lmco.com]
> *Sent:* June-20-18 5:19 PM
> *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] Nova Scotian forest composition
>
> Hi Donna,
>
> Budworm is a native insect however it, like non-native insects, will
> change the composition of Nova Scotia forests and that was what my
> original question was all about. As David has now pointed out, climate
> change will also be a major ‘player’ in what the resulting forest will
> look like in 20 years.
>
> Predictions of what things will be in the future are simply an
> exercise in assumptions so will not be interesting to everyone.
> Sticking with facts then, the budworm’s cyclical impact on Maritime
> forests is as important as a non-native insect’s effect is. The impact
> on bird populations is a well-studied phenomena. You mention that you
> are seeing a few more Bay-breasted Warblers in the forest monitoring
> plots. I can tell you that monitoring on Brier Island has shown that
> the population of both Bay-breasted and Cape May Warblers have been
> rising dramatically over the last 4-5 years. I expect they will
> continue to increase, as they did 40 years ago as long as the Spruce
> Budworm populations remain high in the Maritimes and the Gaspé. The
> odd thing is that so far the expected rise in Tennessee Warbler
> numbers hasn’t materialized in our observations. Let us know when you
> start detecting more of that species on your plots and I’ll do the
> same when numbers increase during migration on Brier Island.
>
> All the best,
>
> Lance
>
> Lance Laviolette
>
> Glen Robertson, Ontario
>
> *From:*naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
> [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] *On Behalf Of *Donna Crossland
> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 19, 2018 6:21 PM
> *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> *Subject:* EXTERNAL: Re: [NatureNS] Nova Scotian forest composition
>
> It's best to avoid the 'company line' about "spruce budworm left
> unchecked". This is a topic that the forest industry uses to instill
> panic to justify full scale harvesting of spruce and fir, complete
> with a spray program, etc. Budworm is a native pest and should not
> enter the conversations over exotics. It comes 'round every few
> decades, as we know. Bay-breasted, Tennessee and other warbler
> species can increase rapidly. We can sit back and enjoy watching
> natures responses to it. This year I observed a few more Bay-breasted
> warblers in forest monitoring plots than previous years, and am
> questioning if they are from an increased number resulting from the Qc
> population that decided to settle in southwest NS this year instead of
> heading farther north after returning from the tropics.
>
> The forest industry and DNR would have us "tinker" with this this
> natural disturbance agent. But balsam fir was never "built to last".
> Titus Smith referred to it as a nursery tree to shelter the growth of
> other late successional tree species. Early entry harvesting in the
> pure fir/spruce stands would mitigate the fear of trees dying all at
> once and wood going to 'waste' (industry thinking, not mine), but in
> actuality industry doesn't want to float in the big machines for
> multiple, early, preemptive partial harvests. The cheapest approach
> is to harvest all at once, so they wait until the budworm hits (it was
> all so predictable), and then cries wolf and harvests all at once.
> But this is the worst scenario for all other ecosystem components
> including soil nutrients then exposed to leaching. The budworm issue
> really hits a nerve.
>
> Balsam fir and spruce will regenerate after budworm. No worries
> there. But hemlock will be repeatedly hit by HWA and not successfully
> reestablish. It will be no more. That's the huge difference between
> native pests and exotics. The latter situation leaves a permanent
> void. Forests without hemlock, ash, and beech are likely imminent,
> perhaps in as little as two decades, but who knows. Nature will
> figure something out, but all these rapid changes are occurring
> because of human activities.
>
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
--Boundary_(ID_0u8aKZfLIvdXRmYyDQ3kug)
Content-type: text/html; charset=windows-1252
Content-transfer-encoding: 8BIT
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<p>Also paper(s) somewhere that indicate that chemical agents merely
prolong the budworm cycle, similar to what you've said below. All
in all, it's best to accept it and "watch the show". Foresters
know what to do to mitigate wood losses. They choose not to for a
numbe