Proceedings Of The Symposium On Management Of Western Bark Beetles With Pheromones Research And Development

Proceedings of the Symposium held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America. The objective of the meeting was to set in the record the status of research & development of semiochemicals for management of bark beetle-caused mortality in western North America. Despite the fact that some semiochemicals are being used in various bark beetle management scenarios in western North America there is need for additional research. Various semiochemical-based bark beetle management tactics such as spot baiting, trap-out, concentration & containment, anti-aggregation, & use of competing species are all under rigorous field testing.

"The compilation of papers in this proceedings is based on a symposium sponsored by the Insect and Diseases Working Group (D5) at the 2007 Society of American Foresters (SAF) convention in Portland, Oregon. The selection of topics parallels the research priorities of the Western Bark Beetle Research Group (WBBRG) (USDA Forest Service, Research and Development), which had been recently formed at the time of the symposium. Reflecting a unique partnership within the Forest Service, each paper was jointly prepared by a research scientist with the WBBRG and one or more entomologists with Forest Health Protection (USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry). Among these papers is a description of the currently elevated impacts of bark beetles in the Western United States; descriptions of the current state of knowledge of bark beetle response to vegetation management and also to climate change; discussions of the complex interactions of bark beetles and fire and of the complex ecological and socioeconomic impacts of infestations; an overview of the use of semiochemical (behavioral chemicals)-based technology for conifer protection; and a case study exemplifying efforts to assess risks posed by nonnative invasive bark beetles." --