NEW YORK, February 28, 2011: Rising temperatures, drought and the spread of destructive insect pests will shrink the North American range of the lodgepole pine nearly 10 percent in the next 10 years, a new study finds. Observed ecosystem changes date back to 1980.
The study was conducted by forestry researchers at Oregon State University and the Department of Forest Resource Management at the University of British Columbia. ‘For skeptics of climate change, it’s worth noting that the increase in vulnerability of lodgepole pine we’ve seen in recent decades is made from comparisons with real climatic data and is backed up with satellite observations showing major changes on the ground,’ Richard Waring, an emeritus professor of forest science at Oregon State University, said in a statement.
The tall, slender pines, once used widely by American Indian tribes as poles for teepee lodges, could largely disappear from the Pacific Northwest by the end of the century if current climate trends persist, the researchers estimated.
The lodgepole pine is just one of a number of North American tree species suffering from climate-related changes. In 2010, an estimated 100,000 spruce trees a day were toppled by a massive spruce beetle infestation in Colorado, according to a study of the state’s forests released earlier this month.