Spruce Beetle Population Suppression in Northern Utah

Abstract

Abstract The spruce beetle is a widely dispersed, native bark beetle that attacks and kills North American spruces. We describe a project that was initiated to suppress an endemic spruce beetle population in an isolated 1000 ac area of spruce in northeastern Utah. Techniques used included baited pheromone traps, selective harvesting and burning of infested trees, and trap trees. Over the 3 yr period of monitoring, the number of standing, currently infested spruce trees was reduced 91%. Field surveys and data trends, in comparison with a nearby spruce beetle population that continued to increase, indicate that the treatments played a major role in decreasing the trend of spruce beetle-infested trees during the study period. This combination of suppression techniques was successful due to the isolated nature of the spruce stands, early detection of the beetle population, accessibility of the stands, and coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal agencies. West. J. Appl. For. 15(3):122-128.