Fire severity in southwestern Colorado unaffected by spruce beetle outbreak

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uoca-fsi102815.php

Public Release: 29-Oct-2015
Fire severity in southwestern Colorado unaffected by spruce beetle outbreak
University of Colorado at Boulder

Contrary to expectations that spruce beetle infestations increase the severity of wildfires in southwestern Colorado, a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder researchers has found that this native insect may not be to blame after all.

Spruce bark beetles have affected roughly half a million acres of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forests across the state in recent years. In 2014, spruce beetles infested more than 87,000 new acres in Colorado. Several large severe wildfires have occurred in the state over the past decade, leading some to hypothesize that the beetle's destructive spread may be a contributing factor.

Not so, according to a field study led by CU-Boulder researchers, who found that higher levels of spruce beetle infestation did not lead to more ecologically severe fires. The findings were published this week in the journal Ecological Applications.

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