BSU aids JHMC’s battle vs beetle attack

By ROCKY NGALOB
www.nordis.net

LA TRINIDAD — Employing its research and extension functions, Benguet State University (BSU) through their small army of researchers and foresters managed to trim down the 68 beetle-infested pines trees, which were subjected for sanitation tree cutting, to marginal number of 39.

As of January of last year, John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) sought BSU’s expertise to asses and control/prevent the infection/infestation of pine trees within the watershed area. A memorandum of agreement then later followed between BSU and JHMC. Subsequently after the MOA signing, BSU’s research team composed of plant pathologists, entomologists and foresters were called to assess the affected area.

The infestation

After countless data gathering and ocular inspections, the BSU research team discovered insect pests specifically bark beetles with some indications of nematodes and fungi were the ones causing the infestation leading to the death of most pine trees in Camp John Hay. These bark beetles were then later identified by BSU research team as Ips Calligraphus (Ips).

Close inspections at the bark of these infested pine trees revealed the presence of pitch tube, a clear manifestations of bark beetle infestation. Also, the research team found huge accumulation of frass (boring dust) among the 68 infested pine trees. The presence of frass is an indication of advance infestation in pine trees. Most prevalent and glaring evidence they documented were the loose pine bark around most infested pine trees. Most trees they examined were peeling and loosing their bark.

According to the BSU research, these Ips is the most serious pests for pines in Asia, USA, Africa, and Latin America. Also Ips are the most documented bark beetle pest in the country that goes far back as 1970’s. Moreover the Ips thrive in high elevated places like here in northern Luzon were most pine trees are located.

These Ips also have the ability to transmit blue stain fungi. The beetle’s exoskeleton serves as the vessel for these blue stain fungi in entering the insides of pine trees. Once entered, fungi then grow within the tree thus further adding damage by hindering the translocation of water from the roots to the leaves.

These Ips play a huge role in the balance of nature according to the research team. Ips loves feasting on old and stressed trees which they can easily identify from the rest through the odor they excrete called terpenes. They added that older and stressed trees emit more terpenes than young healthy trees. However the occurrence currently happening in John Hay is anomalous due to the increased number of infested trees. Now, even the young and healthy trees are already prone to beetle infestation.

Control and treatment

Infected trees were then subjected to treatment and surgery. The BSU research team painstakingly located and covered entry and exit points of the beetles with a covering solution they devised in their laboratory which they assured that will have no effect to the pine tree. Trees having early signs of infestations were wrapped in plastics to prevent beetles in causing further damage.

Though tree cutting is strongly discouraged, victims of the advanced stage of infestation, mostly dead trees, were arranged for sanitation cutting. This is to reduce the actual or anticipated spread of insect and disease. Timely cutting of these already dead pine trees according to the research team is important in order to prevent the escape of mature beetles that can infest other trees.

In order not to resort to sanitation tree cutting, debarking of infested trees can also help. The debarking done by the researches exposed and killed larvae of Ips. They later wrapped the debarked tree with clear plastic 6 mills thick to prevent the adults from escaping. They then used an insecticide that coated the tree trunk.

Lastly, they used pheromones. In luring these pests out from the trees they used Frontalin pheromones with terpenes from pine wood. Then they applied Verbenone, an anti-aggregation pheromone to uninfected trees which served as a counter aggregation pheromone emitted by the beetle that will drive beetles away.

As of this writing, the 68 infested trees that were subject for tree cutting were reduced to 39. John Hay, after being pummeled down by heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Ineng, two pine trees from the 39 beetle infested pine trees snapped due to its brittle trunk. The incident prompted the foresters of Camp John Hay to execute an emergency sanitation cutting with the supervisions of CENRO, BSU and DENR last Wednesday. They slashed six infested trees which according to them presents imminent danger this rainy season.

What’s next?

Recommendations for management and control were given to JHMC by the BSU research team all based on the results. Also, a training course was conceptualized and conducted by the BSU team to equip JHMC’s foresters and staff the knowledge and skills to address the problem. JHMC foresters and staff were instructed on how to identify symptoms of fungal and nematode infection, a course on bark beetle biology and to perform pine tree surgery.

BSU together with JHMC now aim to conduct further comprehensive research towards an integrated pest and disease management within Camp John Hay which will serve as the continuation for BSU’s research study. The integrated pest and disease management aims to start from the early growth of pine trees until its maturity. With this, researchers from BSU can give necessary solutions for the permanent eradication of pests plaguing the pine trees of Camp John Hay. Aside from eradicating pest and disease, JHMC through the help of BSU, seek to formulate a sustainable forest management plan for Camp John Hay.