Lessons from the Big Reed Old-growth Forest - I. Spruce bark beetle damage to old-growth red spruce

Bob Seymour describes damage and mortality from the spruce beetle that killed a large, old-growth red spruce tree. The beetle is Dendroctonus rufipennis (formerly D. piceaperda as I state in the video), first described by Andrew D. Hopkins, a self-taught scientist often considered to be the father of forest entomology in North America. Hopkins named and wrote seminal descriptions of all North American bark beetles, including the classic: Hopkins, A. D. 1901. Insect enemies of the spruce in the Northeast : a popular account of results of special investigations, with recommendations for preventing losses. Division of Entomology, United States. Because this pest can only survive in old, thick-barked spruces over 18" dbh, it has become very rare except in reserves like Big Reed where no harvesting is done.

This is one of several videos filmed by Jessica Leahy on our bushwhacked trip of August 25, 2022 on a loop south of Little Reed Pond.