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When the Trees Die |
| Section: NATURAL SCIENCE / AT THE EDGE |
| Author: Torolf Torgersen and Sally Duncan |
| Publication: The world & I online |
| Issue Date: 1/1/2002 |
| Size: 3,226 Words, 19,827 Characters |
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It started with the western spruce budworm, the larva of a harmless moth. In most years the budworm passes through its life cycle in the western forests and causes little damage. Sometimes, however, on cycles ranging from 20 to 50 years, the budworm population soars. In those years, millions of acres of valuable timberland are covered with hordes of hungry caterpillars. They devour the needles of fir and spruce trees with such completeness that multitudes of trees are weakened and will die prematurely within a few years.
Discovering what caused the budworm outbreaks was the assignment of entomologist Torolf Torgersen when he relocated to northeastern Oregon in the early 1980s. In scientist's terms, he was to study the population dynamics of the western spruce budworm. This meant, he a...
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...n the example of the forest we find a clear reminder of nature's marvelous economy and apparently seamless integration of wildly diverse components. If we would all bear that lesson in mind, the world would be a better place."
On the Internet
La Grande Forestry and Range Sciences Lab; Disturbance Ecology and Management in the Interior Northwest Team www.fs.fed.us/lagrande/dem.htm
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