An Introduction to the Southern Pine Beetle
The invasion of the Southern Pine Beetle has been one of the most consistent problems plaguing the Long Island Pine Barrens over the past decade. Whether driving down the LIE or taking a walk through one of the Pine Barrens’ many wonderful parks, you’re likely to come across a collection of dead pines, dried out and bare. Often, you’ll find these trees cut down, as part of an effort to stop the vicious beetle. But how did the beetle get here? How does it so effortlessly devastate our pine trees? And, most importantly, how do we stop it?
This page will serve as your one-stop shop for information about the Southern Pine Beetle. However, we also encourage you to consult our twice-yearly newsletter which often covers the latest developments regarding one of the Pine Barrens’ greatest foes.
How the Beetle Got Here and How It’s Stayed Around
We don’t know precisely how the Southern Pine Beetle arrived on Long Island, but we do have an idea of where it came from. It’s all in the name. The “Southern” Pine Beetle came from the south. Going south from Long Island, the first Pine Barrens habitat you’ll find is in New Jersey, and though that’s not where the Southern Pine Beetle originated, it is where it last inserted itself before arriving on Long Island. The leading theory as to how the beetle got here from New Jersey is that it was carried by one of the large subtropical storms we experience semi-frequently. But, reading this, you might observe that if this happened once, it almost certainly happened more than once, given the frequency of the storms. Yet the Southern Pine Beetle only became established on Long Island around 2014. Why? Why didn’t an earlier incursion by the beetle have the same lasting impact?
At a glance, the environments of Long Island and New Jersey are not so different. There certainly is not the extreme discrepancy that there is between Long Island and one of the southernmost states. Yet, in the world of ecology even a slight difference can decide everything. By 2014, global climate change had progressed to the point where Long Island’s average temperature matched that of New Jersey. True, this would have been a change of no more than a single degree, but a single degree is all it took. When the Southern Pine Beetle arrived, it arrived in a land filled with plenty of food and with a climate it found amenable. And so, it has persisted ever since, much to the Pine Barrens’ detriment.
How the Beetle Destroys Our Pitch Pines
The Pitch Pine is the namesake tree of the Pine Barrens, and it is also the primary target of the Southern Pine Beetle. The beetle also targets Dwarf Pines, White Pines, and other similar species. A beetle infestation is so devastating because of the method by which it attacks a tree. When a swarm latches onto a tree, it bores into its bark. The beetles then feed on the softer tissue and the vascular system, and since it is by these tissues that trees obtain their nutrients, a beetle attack is a death sentence for any tree. Due to the beetle’s short lifespan and rapid rate of multiplication, by the time the bore holes are visible on the tree, it’s already too late to save it.
Drained of sap, the pines die off and the beetles move to a new tree. The dried-out trees stand tall until either they fall over (due to their now-brittle trunks), or a lightning strike sets them ablaze. Thus, the damage the Southern Pine Beetle causes lasts far longer than its initial attack on the tree. Fallen trees can of course hurt any passers-by (which means you need to be very aware when taking a hike!), and of course dried trees are perfect kindling for wildfires. Couple that with the recent trend of drought on Long Island and the aforementioned rising temperatures, and the potential for larger, more devastating wildfires. While the Pine Barrens is a fire climax ecosystem, meaning it requires fire to flourish, there is a limit to how much fire it can sustain, to say nothing of the potential danger to nearby homes or businesses.
What We Can Do to Stop the Beetle
When you see fallen trees in areas infested by the Southern Pine Beetle, it could be thanks to one of two main reasons. Either the infected trees (which are dried-out and brittle) could have fallen naturally, or they could have been chopped down. Chopping down infected trees is one of the best defenses against the spread of the Southern Pine Beetle. By chopping down infected trees while the infestation is ongoing, as well as surrounding trees, the spread is stalled, as the beetles are no longer able to move to healthy trees. In a similar vein, thinning forests before a beetle attack occurs could slow any potential incursion.
This was just a brief overview of the Southern Pine Beetle situation. For further information, please consult any and all of the following presentations, taken from the recent Southern Pine Beetle Symposium:
- An Overview Presentation by Jason C. Smith, from the Central Pine Barrens Commission
- A Presentation on Beetle Biology and Management from the DEC’s Division of Lands & Forests
- A Presentation About Fire as a Beetle Management Tool, also from the Division of Lands & Forests
Cover Photo Credit: Katie Muether Brown
