Thursday, July 31, 2008

Insects and climate change


The current outbreak of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in British Columbia may contribute to climate change by slowing carbon uptake of forests and by releasing massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere that are currently locked up in millions of hectares of trees, according to researchers in Canada.

Ironically, climate change is implicated as a probable cause of the beetle outbreak by enabling it to
expand its range significantly.