Keyword: southwestern white

High elevation white pines educational website

The high elevation five-needle white pines are facing numerous challenges ranging from climate change to invasion by a non-native pathogen to escalation of pest outbreaks. This website (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/) serves as a primer for managers and the public on the high elevation North American five-needle pines.

Restoration planting options for limber pines in the southern Rocky Mountains

Limber Pine (Pinus flexilis) populations in the southern Rocky Mountains are severely threatened by the combined impacts of mountain pine beetles and white pine blister rust. Limber pine's critical role in these high elevation ecosystems heightens the importance of mitigating these impacts.

Limber pine seed and seedling planting experiment in Waterton Lakes National Park, Canada

Limber pine plays an important role in the harsh environments in which it lives, providing numerous ecological services, especially because its large, wingless seeds serve as a high energy food source for many animals. Limber pine populations are declining due to a combination of white pine blister rust, mountain pine beetle, drought, and fire suppression.

Guidelines for whitebark pine planting prescriptions

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a keystone species in high-elevation ecosystems of the western United States. Unfortunately many fragile subalpine ecosystems are losing whitebark pine as a functional community component due to the combined effects of an introduced disease, insects and succession. Planting whitebark pine is one part of a multifaceted restoration strategy (Keane and Arno 2001).

Whitebark pine direct seeding trials in the Pacific Northwest

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) is a critical species in many high elevation ecosystems and is currently in serious decline due to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), and competition from other species (Schwandt 2006; Tomback and Achuff 2010; Tomback and others 2001).

Highlights of the Forest Health Protection Whitebark Pine Restoration Program

In 2005, Forest Health Protection (FHP) initiated a rangewide health assessment for whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis). This assessment summarized the forest health condition of whitebark pine throughout its range and also documented information needs, potential restoration strategies, and challenges to restoration that need to be addressed (Schwandt 2006).

No free lunch: Observations on seed predation, cone collection, and controlled germination of whitebark pine from the Canadian Rockies

Whitebark pine is a keystone species of high elevation forests in western North America that is experiencing rapid decline due to fire exclusion policies, mountain pine beetle, and the introduced pathogen, white pine blister rust. Restoration activities include collecting cones and growing seedlings from individuals that show mechanisms for resistance to blister rust infections.

Restoration of whitebark pine forests in the northern Rocky Mountains, USA

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) has been declining across much of its range in North America because of the combined effects of mountain pine beetle epidemics, fire exclusion policies, and widespread exotic blister rust infections. Whitebark pine seed is dispersed by a bird, the Clark's nutcracker, which caches seed in open, pattern-rich landscapes created by fire.

Whitebark and limber pine restoration and monitoring in Glacier National Park

Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) are keystone species important to watersheds, grizzly and black bears, squirrels, birds, and other wildlife. Both high elevation five-needled pines have dramatically declined in Glacier National Park primarily due to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) and fire exclusion, with mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) as a potential threat.

The proactive strategy for sustaining five-needle pine populations: An example of its implementation in the southern Rocky Mountains

The imminent invasion of the non-native fungus, Cronartium ribicola J.C. Fisch., that causes white pine blister rust (WPBR) and the current mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins, MPB) epidemic in northern Colorado limber pine forests will severely affect the forest regeneration cycle necessary for functioning ecosystems.