Biological Barriers to Forest Pest Invasions: A Novel Host Tree Slows Mountain Pine Beetle Range Expansion.

ABSTRACT: Mountain pine beetle breached the Canadian Rocky Mountains-a former geographic barrier-initiating an eastward range expansion that threatens pine forests across North America. However, mountain pine beetle's expansion stalled unexpectedly in eastern Alberta, defying predictions of rapid spread through jack pine, a novel host tree. We investigated the mechanisms behind this slowed spread using an integrated methodology combining helicopter survey data, statistical modeling, simulations, and a consideration of experimental data. While previous hypotheses attributed the slowed spread to lower pine volumes and stem densities in eastern Alberta's forests, our findings indicate that jack pine's inherent phenotypic characteristics-specifically its smaller size, thinner phloem, and lower monoterpe

SUBMITTER: Johnson EC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12529056 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature