Title: Connecting overwintering success of eastern larch beetle to health of tamarack. Chapter 16

Author: Venette, Robert C.; Walter, Abigail J.

Year: 2012

Publication: In: Potter, Kevin M.; Conkling, Barbara L. Forest health monitoring: 2008 national technical report. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-158. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station: 167-169.

Abstract: Michigan, Wisconsin, Maine, and Minnesota have experienced extensive mortality of tamarack (eastern larch) (Larix laricina). The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported tamarack mortality on 54,000 acres of Minnesota forests between 2001 and 2006 (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 2006). Although the exact cause of tree mortality has been difficult to determine, eastern larch beetle (Dendroctonus simplex) may be playing a key role (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry; U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service 2006). Although eastern larch beetles often attack stressed tamarack, recent attacks in Minnesota have occurred on healthy trees. Similar observations were made in New York and Vermont during the 1970s (Drooz 1985).