Dr. Victor Leiffers describes research on how to get lodgepole pine to regenerate after mountain pine beetle (MPB) have killed stands in Alberta. Lodgepole pine are adapted to regenerate after fire. Cones open with fire to release seeds after the fire has passed. Cones do drop after mountain pine beetle kills lodgepole pine. Cones that remain on trees after MPB kill are still viable up to 15 years after tree death. Prescribed burns after MPB attack is a viable way to regenerate stands. Ground fires will be hot enough to open cones on dead trees and on the ground. Fire also creates a better seed bed than the debris that remains after MPB tree death. Site preparation using a backhoe also will work. Shading is still an issue on a rich site so aggressive site preparation is required. Salvage logging and regeneration requires decisions on protection of understory saplings. And where salvage logging is not done on poor sites with feathermoss, regeneration will be very slow. So in MPB killed areas without salvage logging, the resulting forests over the next 200 years will be low in lodgepole pine.
Dr. Victor Lieffers is Department Chair of the Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta and professor of silviculture and forest ecology. His presentation was part of the Mountain Pine Beetle Forum for Researcher-Practitioner Information Exchange at the University of Alberta, April 24, 25, 2013.
