Bark beetle

A beetle whose larvae develop beneath tree bark; some species kill living conifers by disrupting their defenses and spreading associated fungi.

Tree resin: A viscous mixture of plant chemicals that conifers release from wounds and use to deter insects and pathogens. Resin flow is a first line of defense against beetles boring into conifer bark.
Tree bark: The outer protective covering of woody plants, including living inner tissues and often dead outer layers. Bark beetles bore through this covering to reach suitable breeding tissues.
Bark beetle outbreak: A rapid increase in bark beetle populations that causes widespread tree attack and mortality. Outbreaks turn individual tree attacks into landscape-scale forest change.
Forest disturbance: An event or process that substantially changes forest structure, resources, or ecosystem function. Large beetle outbreaks act as disturbances that reorganize forests.
Ips typographus: A Eurasian spruce bark beetle that attacks Norway spruce and can cause extensive forest mortality. This species shows how mass attack can overwhelm spruce defenses.
Cambium: A layer of dividing cells in woody plants that produces secondary xylem inward and secondary phloem outward. Many bark beetle galleries run near the cambium, where larvae access nutritious tissues.
Forest pest management: The monitoring and control of organisms that damage forests or reduce their value. Management approaches weigh beetle suppression against ecological and economic costs.
Forest succession: The long-term change in forest species composition and structure after disturbance or environmental change. Regeneration after beetle mortality can shift which tree species dominate.
Mountain pine beetle: A North American bark beetle that breeds in pine phloem and has caused extensive lodgepole pine mortality. Its attack sequence illustrates bark beetle colonization of living pines.
Beetle: An insect in the order Coleoptera, characterized by hardened forewings called elytra. Bark beetles are a specialized group within the largest insect order.

Linked from 18 pages