Harry Nelson, assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, talks about assessing the effectiveness of Alberta’s forest management strategies against the Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB). This project has just started, and it aims to combine the expertise and knowledge of an economist, entomologist, and ecologists to understand the effectiveness of what Alberta has done to eliminate the MPB over the past seven years.
They plan to use models that can be calibrated to local conditions, are capable of controlling for factors influencing beetle productivity, and can represent management outcomes. They are interested in looking at the relationship between stand characteristics, climate and beetle productivity. They also plan to use linked stand and dispersal models to evaluate outcomes at the landscape level under different management approaches. This presentation was a part of the Mountain Pine Beetle Information Exchange Forum, in April of 2014.
