1B+Pine+Beetle

Mountain Pine Beetle Threats The main threat for the pine forests are the mountain pine beetles. They chew on the trees and kill them. This is killing the whole forest. Another threat, not as traumatic, is humans tearing down the forests to build houses. Also if there were no trees, there would be no place for the chickaree’s to live and they would die out. Then if the chickaree’s died, other animals would die because of lack of food. So, because of one threat to the trees, the whole area could be threatened. The Mountain Pine Beetle is a rice-sized black bug that ruins pine trees. For the last 15 years, thick pine forests have had ideal conditions for these pests. Now the beetles have eaten so much of the pine that they are having a hard time finding more to chew on. They can’t get their sugar so they can make it through cold snaps. So that means that their population is going back down. The pine beetles have killed so many trees that wild fire warnings have been going up and it is estimated that they will be having falling tree hazards for the next 10 years. At the Colorado plateau, forests generally occur at elevations from about 8,000 to 10,000 feet, where precipitation is usually 25 to 30 inches. -Rocky Mountains- The North American Rocky Mountains stretch more than 2,980miles from western Canada, to New Mexico.  Ecosystem Abiotic and Biotic Factors Our ecosystem is the mountains in the western U.S. Specifically the mountains in Colorado like the Rocky Mountains. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than 2,980miles from western Canada, to New Mexico. Some of the main plants and animals are fir trees, pine trees, lichen, aspens, American kestrel, mountain lion, mountain goat, hoary marmot, Clark’s nutcracker, stellar jay, and the chickaree. The climate where the pine beetles live is technically a desert. The main threat for the pine forests are the mountain pine beetles. They chew on the trees and kill them. This is killing the whole forest. Another threat, not as traumatic, is humans tearing down the forests to build houses. Also if there were no trees, there would be no place for the chickaree’s to live and they would die out. Then if the chickaree’s died, other animals would die because of lack of food. So, because of one threat to the trees, the whole area could be threatened. Conservation plan Our plan for the mountain pine beetle is to kill the beetle because it is killing the trees all over Denver. We need to kill this beetle because we need trees to live and if there is no trees then we would all die and so will the animals.



Picture Attributions Original image: ' [|American Kestrel] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/15323831@N05/2234472992 by: Linda Tanner by: Original image: ' [|untitled] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/8628950@N06/2449072193 by: Gabriel Original image: ' [|Reindeer moss, growing on Riggins Bridge guardrail support pole] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/32454422@N00/3903435870 by: Martin LaBar Original image: ' [|muskokawildlife 11] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/10414542@N08/4395076827 by: Vince Maidens http://www.flickr.com/photos/18548283@N00/3662274448 by: ** Original image: ' [|A Clark's Nutcracker Closeup] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/40196150@N07/4101336627 by: D Harpe Original image: ' [|Fox Squirrel, San Jose CA] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/78425154@N00/420772160 by: Franco Folini Original image: ' [|poppy love.... #4 -- squaRED] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/26405526@N00/2516592228 by: Thomas Lieser Original image: ' [|Hamish in his flower pot] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/71956763@N00/2830270508 by: Paul Original image: ' [|Stonehenge's view] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/9172731@N03/3217596831 by: Natalia Romay Original image: ' [|Hoary Marmot] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/8220978@N05/516278953 by: Original image: ' [|pines] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/25689440@N06/3078299967 by: Dan Bergstrom Original image: ' [|mount evans 2] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/70021771@N00/2947272252 by: Tim Caynes Original image: ' [|Acorn] ' http://www.flickr.com/photos/46406832@N00/2881856339 by: Randi Hausken
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