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The following is a discussion on the Point Pleasant Park situation from a
member of the local drum group Samba Nova, Chris Majka, who also happens
to be an ecologist/entomologist. It was part of a larger in-group debate
about whether to involve Samba Nova in a rally/discussion planned for this
Sunday re: the decision to chop 'beetle infested' trees.
I thought it would be of interest to sust-mar subscribers. Chris welcomes
your feedback. His e-mail is included.
Cheers, Peter
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From: Christopher Majka <cmajka@csuite.ns.ca>
To: Peter Douglas Watson <aq071@chebucto.ns.ca>
Subject: Re: Park Protest
I'm actually preparing an even fuller version of this for the Globe and
Mail who are quite interested in the issue. I'm hoping they run the piece.
You can mention that there will be a large rally at Pt. Pleasant Park on
Sunday at 2:30 PM (Tower Rd entrance) to discuss the issue. If anyone want
to get involved in this they can contact Iain Taylor
<mapman@hfx.andara.com> who is one of the rally's organizer. If people
from the sustainable maritimes list want ot volley questions or comments
at me I'll be pleased to respond (I probably should join the list ...
;->).
Cheers,
Chris
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Not wanting to subject Samba Novan's to long discussion of entomology,
however, here are just a few salient points:
There is _no_ plague of Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetles in Point Pleasant
Park. None. There have been a _small_ number of Brown Spruce Longhorn
Beetles (Tetropium fuscum) found there (in 1999; perhaps circa 50). These
beetles are _much_ less abundant than other species of wood-boring beetles
already there, notably the Pine Stump Borer (Asemum striatum) and
Stenocorus inquisitor. For example, in the last three days of scouring the
forest I have not been able to locate any T. fuscum, whereas I have found
a number of the other species. The first is a naturalized European import:
the latter a native species.
There are 95 species of Cerambycids (wood-boring beetles) already recorded
in Nova Scotia. There are, in fact two members of this same genus, T.
cinnamopterum & T. schwarziarus, that were introduced here many years ago
and are now a small component of the forest insect fauna. None of these
species of beetles pillages through the forest like any sort of biblical
plague.
This species, moreover, has certainly been found in the park since 1990,
quite possibly since 1984; and indeed possibly even earlier than this. No
cataclysm has ensued. None.
The Brown Spruce Longhorn Beetle has been extensively studies in Europe
(they are found in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania,
Estonia, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, etc.). Everywhere they
are a small an innocuous component of the forest insect fauna.
Most important, however, many studies show that these beetles _never_
attack healthy trees. Never. They feed on trees that are already diseased
or dying. And this exactly the case in Point Pleasant Park. The
wood-boring beetles (and its impossible to tell from exit burrows which of
the three species are responsible) are found only on some older Red
Spruce. Never on healthy trees with a large percentage of forest cover.
Never on young trees (with a basal diameter of less than 20 cm).
Their presence is a _symptom_ of a problems not a _cause_. What, then, is
the cause? A number of factors are clearly implicated including (most
importantly) disturbance to the forest floor and soil ecology cause by
decades of clearing underbrush from the park and fallen trees. There are
real concerns about the nutritional state of the soil in the park in
addition to other factors such as over-use of areas of the park; soil
compaction (too many people and dogs walking over it) and several years of
drought in the park which have caused severe water stress to the trees
(particularly the larger and older ones). More research certainly needs to
be done to examine this.
Thus there is no danger to Point Pleasant Park from this beetle. The
health of the trees in the park needs to be addressed in other ways. There
are undoubtedly some trees there which will die, however, there is no need
to cut great swaths: most dead trees can be left where they are to
decompose in the forest and hence recycle their nutrients.
There is no danger to the forests of Nova Scotia from this beetle. None.
We already have many species in the province that do exactly what this
species does. They never reproduce like the plague. In the 16+ years this
one has been in Point Pleasant Park its numbers are still seeming quite
low, and significantly less than the native Cerambycids in the park. Even
were they to spread to other areas (and there may be some evidence that
they are already found in other areas in Nova Scotia) they would join many
other native species, including the two others in their genus previously
introduced. Further, they are found only on sick and dying trees and never
attack healthy living ones.
Furthermore, Dr. Edith Angelopoulos (P.hD. in entomology at Dalhousie)
correctly points out that even if any controlled cutting should ever be
deemed to be desirable, the worst time to do it would be in the summer
months, when disturbance of the forest in such a dramatic fashion, could
readily drive these beetles to other areas in seeking a new food source
(they have been know to fly over 140 km). The dead of winter is a far
preferable time.
What, then, is driving this hysterical and panicked reaction ("The sky is
falling; the sky is falling!" I hear people shouting. ;->)? Quite clearly
the driving force is the powerful vested interests of the forest industry
in Nova Scotia who regard all Nova Scotia's forests as potential crops and
who regard any perceived threat to their interests as unacceptable. There
have already been veiled calls by the industry to cut other areas as
'prophylactic measures' to stem the non-existent threat of an onslaught of
this beetle.
Make no mistake: the forest industry in this province is attempting to
pull the wool over citizen's eyes with what really can only be described
as hysterical scare-mongering without scientific basis. Do not succumb.
;->
In case you wonder about my qualifications in writing this, I am an
ecologist by training with extensive background, both as a graduate and
undergraduate student, in invertebrate biology and entomology.
Best wishes to all!
Chris
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
Christopher Majka <natural@chebucto.ns.ca>
Electronic Resources on Lepidoptera, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
URL = http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/lepidoptera.html
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