A major source of food for the endangered grizzly bear could soon end up on the endangered species list itself.
The whitebark pine tree can be found in high elevations throughout the western United States and Canada. Its seeds are an important food source for bears and other wildlife.
But enter two invasive species. A fungus called blister rust and the mountain pine beetle are wrecking havoc on the tree. Scientists say rising earth temperatures are allowing the beetle to survive at higher elevations where the whitebark pine isn’t used to fighting it off.
The Natural Resource Defense Council paints a dim picture for whitebark pine within Yellowstone.
“Most of the whitebark pine within the greater Yellowstone region will be at least functionally extinct within the next several years,” says NRDC Senior Scientist Sylvia Fallon.
The U.S. government this summer listed the whitebark pine as a candidate for the Endangered Species List. That sets up the whitebark pine to be the first tree of its kind on the list. Whitebark pine is already listed as endangered in Canada.
Researchers in both countries are working hard to find ways to fight the invasive species.
“What they are doing for some of the trees that they think are genetically resistant to blister rust is put packets of a chemical that discourage beetles from colonizing a tree. And results seem to show that in many cases these packets work,” says Diana Tomback of the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation.
With warming temperatures as the big reason mountain pine beetle is able thrive in the whitepark pine’s environment; the tree may be one of the first species to succumb to climate change.
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The Whitebark Pine Foundation’s Diana Tomback on the whitebark’s rapid decline:
Photo credit: NRDC