Will mountain pine beetles move from lodgepole pine to ponderosa pine forests?
People have raised concerns about the movement of mountain pine beetle from lodgepole pine forests into ponderosa, limber, and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine standsall of which are suitable host trees for the mountain pine beetle. Little research has been conducted on this poorly understood topic. For example, the mountain pine beetle epidemics that occurred in ponderosa pine stands in the Arkansas Valley, in South Park, and around Red Feather Lakes in Colorado in the 1990s and early 2000s, and in the Front Range in the late 1960s and 1970s, did not lead to substantial spread into adjacent lodgepole pine forests. However, observations across the West and in southern Wyoming during the current epidemic suggest that the insects are spreading to different hosts. At present, mortality associated with elevated mountain pine populations is occurring in ponderosa pine forests in the Colorado Front Range.
