Bark Beetles Research Paper

“The conifer forests of the North American west have been under a massive assault over the past decade by bark beetles: one species alone, the mountain pine beetle, has killed more than 70,000 square miles’ worth of trees, equivalent to the area of Washington State” (Michael D. Lemonick). Just like other insects, bark beetles favor warmer environments. As the average temperature is getting warmer, the beetles are coming sooner in the year and more destroying trees than before. Normally, bark beetles numbers would stay to a minimal size due to the cold weather for 6 months of the year, but because of climate change they are surviving throughout the winter in greater numbers and reproducing more. There are over 600 different types of bark beetles
The growing of our forests seems like a pretty good thing, and it is, but not if it is causing some of our tree species to go extinct. Climate change is shifting the geographic ranges for where the different types of trees grow, and causing some species of trees to grow more northern or at a higher altitude than before. This may not seem like much, but trees that grow more northern than others are getting closer to extinction than we realize. For example, trees that grow on mountain tops can not go anywhere higher and will most likely die off due to the unsuitable climate they live in now. With the average weather temperature getting warmer, drought in particular areas is increasing. “Although many trees are resilient to some degree of drought, increases in temperature could make future droughts more damaging than those experienced in the past” (ww3.epa.gov). Carbon dioxide is a necessary for photosynthesis, along with an acceptable amount of water and nutrients. With more carbon dioxide increasing and not much water available, a tree is not going to be able go through photosynthesis, wasting its potential to be productive, and would result in being