G3+Pine+Beetle

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The Rocky Mountain Pine Beetle Menace Found on Wikipedia __Introduction__: The Rocky Mountain Pine beetle has destroyed multiple trees and animals homes. Many wildfires (lots of big, dry, trees to set aflame) and land-slides (due to the tree not holding the ground together) have happened because of the pine beetles killing the trees. Different types of trees can be affected by the Pine Bettles so when the Pine beetles were introduced to the Colorado area around 2003 they have killed millions of trees. Colorado's mature lodgepole Pines are in great danger and they will be almost completely destroyed in just a few years if nothing is done about it. Even more terrible things may happen if we do nothing about these beetles like large amounts of Carbon-Dioxide will be released (About 270 megatons), serious wildfires, lanslides and floods could occur and a large part of forests in Colorado, Wyoming, and Canada would be eliminated.

__Introduction to Ecosystem__: The ecosystem where the pine beetles thrive is the mountain coniferous forest and the montane forest. The mountain coniferous forest is found on the slopes of mountains, just below the permanent snow caps. It's trees are thick, close together, and the branches start low to the ground because of the harsh climate. The montane forest is on the lower slopes of mountains and the climate is much warmer than the mountain coniferous forest. The trees are also farther apart and less thick because of the more hospitable climate. The trees don't have to work so hard to survive and get air because there is more oxygen since it is at a lower elevation. Both forests range to all sizes and the beetles thrive on the trees in them.

__Abiotic/Biotic Factors:__ Many things are influenced by this pine beetle epidemic, and many things also play a part in it. Some of the main non-living factors are just simple things like temperature and climate. The climate pays a huge part in the epidemic because the beetles thrive in a high and cold climate so those are the places that are getting hit the worst and since they already have so little oxygen because of their altitude, the loss of oxygen rich trees is a big loss. The temperature plays a big part because the beetles live in very cold weather, but it can't get too cold because if it drops below -40 degrees fahrenheit they will freeze and die. There are a lot of biotic factors that are effected by the epidemic. First of course is the pine beetle and the trees it eats. Then comes the animals that eat the pine beetles which is mostly woodpeckers and other small birds. Next are the animals that live in trees, because they could be losing their homes. But then there are also animals that live in dead trees that could be gaining a home. The last living factor is the plants, animals, and humans that live in or around the forests. This is because the dead trees are a fire hazard and the loose soil would make landslides more possible. That would endanger everything!

__Threats to the Ecosystem:__ Those fall under the category of threats to the ecosystem. Most of these we've already gone over. Some threats include the beetles themselves. They kill the pine trees and that leads to many animals losing their food, homes, and lives! This also makes fire and landslides more possible which is not good seeing these cause destruction to all. But all of them can't die because the animals that depend on the beetle's destruction for homes and the beetles for food could die as well. That could disrupt the entire ecosystem and food chain which might cause a mini apocalypse for the animals in that ecosystem. Which could mean trouble for us because we are all connected.

__Conservation Plans__:  These are the best ideas we could come up with but it has been proven that there is no way to stop or divert this problem when it is this big. There are some ways to stop it and kill the beetles, but they are all to expensive, unrealistic, or illogical. The best thing we can do is let nature run its course and hope that some other natural component will put an end to the epidemic.
 * Releasing predators into ecosystem(woodpeckers, skunks, other small birds) - No epidemic of this size can be solved by this method
 * Starting a controlled wildfire to eliminate the infected trees and stop the spread of the beetles-has been done for small cases but with a case this extreme, it would be far too devastating to the ecosystem, it would be worse than the problem its self
 * Sevin spray- would kill beetles but would also kill every known insect in the forest, ruining the ecosystem
 * Hope for a cold winter- if the temperature drops to -40 degrees farenheit for over 12 hours the beetles will freeze and die...this temperature isn't uncommon for the places affected by these beetles.
 * Beetles-Be-Gone pouches- would need to be stapled to every single tree which is somewhat of a hassle as well as unimaginably expensive

__Bibliography__:
 * 1) "Pine Beetle Facts." //Forest Health Task Force//. Forest Health Task Force, 15 Jul 2008. Web. 23 May 2010. .
 * 2) "Alpine Biome." n. pag. Web. 23 May 2010. .
 * 3) "Mountain Pine Beetle." (2009): n. pag. Web. 23 May 2010. .
 * 4) "Dead Trees are Good Homes." //Parks Canada//. Parks Canada, 15 Apr 2009. Web. 23 May 2010. .