Bugs! The critters eating America's forests

Kieran · Post by **Kieran** » 05 Jul 2009, 14:20

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 32199.html

Papillon · Post by **Papillon** » 05 Jul 2009, 16:49

Very interesting indeed. Thank you.

I think with slight alteration, the headline could read: 'Humans! The greedy b*gg3rs consuming the Earth'

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 06 Jul 2009, 07:39

Every country ought to have adopted the biosecurity measures that are the norm in Australia and Polynesia.

But we haven't and we won't.

Catweazle · Post by **Catweazle** » 07 Jul 2009, 09:16

biffvernon wrote:Every country ought to have adopted the biosecurity measures that are the norm in Australia and Polynesia.

But we haven't and we won't.

It's easier for an island in the middle of nowhere, more difficult for continental Europe. I think the big factor is the climate change that has made it possible for these bugs to thrive in new areas.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 07 Jul 2009, 14:02

Last time I checked, Britain was still an island. You can hardly blame climate change for a bug that travels through hundreds of miles of latitude.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 08 Jul 2009, 17:27

No? I thought the whole story was that there were no longer winters cold enough to keep the numbers down (unless I'm confusing it with another Usonian Dead Tree tale...)

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 08 Jul 2009, 20:06

the article in the OP wrote:The borer, which comes from China, first entered America in the wood of crates shipped to Detroit

.

Detroit has a lot to answer for but I don't think they have warm winters there yet.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 08 Jul 2009, 20:48

biffvernon wrote:
the article in the OP wrote:The borer, which comes from China, first entered America in the wood of crates shipped to Detroit
.

Detroit has a lot to answer for but I don't think they have warm winters there yet.

True, but I think he was talking about something like 30-below instead of 40-below! (You'll find this works in both scales btw

)

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 08 Jul 2009, 22:18

The point is that the bugs are in the US 'cos folks let them in - nothing much to do with global warming.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 09 Jul 2009, 02:03

biffvernon wrote:The point is that the bugs are in the US 'cos folks let them in - nothing much to do with global warming.

No! The point is that they have both: imported bugs and native one's not being killed off by the recent milder winters. And they don't know which trees to replant because of warming climates.

"The implications are a concern to us," Mr Mangold said. "It's getting drier and hotter and we want to plant what should be the right trees for the right place but that's getting more difficult to work out...."

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 09 Jul 2009, 08:22

Sorry, Ken, I don't get that. In North America, we have a great latitudinal range and lots of climate zones. As the globe warms the climate zones may shift northwards and the native plant pests will move northwards accordingly. For sure this is a potential problem as the trees (other than ents) move rather too slowly. But the problem in the OP is about a foreign pest that has been accidentally introduced into an ecosystem that does not have the checks in place to cope.