Spatial distribution of the alder bark beetle in red alder stands shows clustering of attacked trees

UBC Undergraduate Research

Spatial distribution of the alder bark beetle in red alder stands shows clustering of attacked trees Thain, Julia

Abstract

Bark beetles utilize aggregation pheromone systems to communicate and mass attack host trees leading to death of the tree. The alder bark beetle, Alniphagus aspericollis (LeConte), attacks red alder, Alnus rubra Bong., one of the most important and abundant hardwood species in British Columbia. I assessed the spatial distribution of alder bark beetle attacked trees within five sites in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island of British Columbia. I predicted that the alder bark beetle attacks should display spatial clustering in a manner indicative of an aggregation pheromone similar to what is known of conifer bark beetle systems. Using Ripley’s K function to analyze 1-hectare stands, I found that alder bark beetle attacked trees displayed clustering at four of the five sites studied. This is supportive of the hypothesis that the alder bark beetle utilizes an aggregation pheromone to mass attack trees. This can help guide future research and management of the within coastal red alder stands.

Item Metadata

Title	Spatial distribution of the alder bark beetle in red alder stands shows clustering of attacked trees
Creator	Thain, Julia
Date Issued	2023-04
Description	Bark beetles utilize aggregation pheromone systems to communicate and mass attack host trees leading to death of the tree. The alder bark beetle, Alniphagus aspericollis (LeConte), attacks red alder, Alnus rubra Bong., one of the most important and abundant hardwood species in British Columbia. I assessed the spatial distribution of alder bark beetle attacked trees within five sites in the Lower Mainland and Southern Vancouver Island of British Columbia. I predicted that the alder bark beetle attacks should display spatial clustering in a manner indicative of an aggregation pheromone similar to what is known of conifer bark beetle systems. Using Ripley’s K function to analyze 1-hectare stands, I found that alder bark beetle attacked trees displayed clustering at four of the five sites studied. This is supportive of the hypothesis that the alder bark beetle utilizes an aggregation pheromone to mass attack trees. This can help guide future research and management of the within coastal red alder stands.
Subject	alder bark beetle; red alder; aggregation pheromone; spatial distribution; Ripley’s K
Genre	Graduating Project
Type	Text
Language	eng
Series	University of British Columbia. FRST 498
Date Available	2025-01-21
Provider	Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights	Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI	10.14288/1.0447789
URI	http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90184
Affiliation	Forestry, Faculty of; Forest and Conservation Sciences, Department of
Peer Review Status	Unreviewed
Scholarly Level	Undergraduate
Rights URI	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository	DSpace

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