Page 23 - Georgia Forestry - Spring 2017

Small Beetle, Big Impact
Tiny Beetles Decimating Georgia Pines
Story by Stasia Kelly
Good things, it is said, come in small packages. Nothing could be further from the truth, however, for Georgia forest landowners dealing with an invasion of Ips engraver beetles.
Ips are tiny things — just three to five millimeters in length. But when they find good feeding grounds, they can cause massive damage. From Columbus to Elberton, landowners are seeing that firsthand, as Ips move in on drought-stressed pine trees and go in for the kill. Georgia Forestry Commission Forest Health staff flying aerial surveys recently counted 280 active Ips “spots” measuring five acres or more. In excess of 5,000 spots of one-tenth to one-
quarter acre in size have been charted as well.
“New spots are being added to the list weekly,” said Chip
Bates, Georgia Forestry Commission Forest Health Coordina- tor. Bates estimates that 6,000 acres have already been lost, and if steady rain doesn’t come anytime soon, more issues — and losses — can be expected.
“This is an unprecedented outbreak,” said Bates, “and it’s one-hundred percent drought-related. There is no other environmental factor that’s causing this.”
As Jason Simmons of Middle Georgia Timber was supervising a Greene County harvesting operation, he recounted seeing the beetles’ rapid spread firsthand.
“In early January, we flew over 25 acres of bottom land, and there was no evidence of Ips,” said Simmons. “By mid-March, the trees were showing damage. I thought we were slowing down, but this was definitely fresh.”
Green County forest landowner Lee Rhodes has been “chasing bark beetles since last year.” He estimates nearly a thousand acres have been destroyed on and around his property near I-20 and Lake Oconee. Rhodes said whether trees are dying because of Ips or drought isn’t always clear, but there’s no doubt the area’s lack of rain has reached unprecedented levels.
“My father and I were driving the property and he said, ‘That’s
LEE RHODES
Above: Ips beetles are decimating acres of Georgia’s forestland. Opposite page: The striations are an indication of significant damage.
the first time I’ve ever seen that beaver swamp dry in all my 90 years!’”
Rain and cold winter temperatures customarily slow Ips engraver beetle populations. Georgia’s ongoing drought (one third of the state is currently classified between "abnormally dry” and “extreme drought”) and mild temperatures are now boosting beetle populations, which attack weakened, dying, or recently felled trees and fresh logging debris. The beetles invade trees from the top down, so initial signs of infestation include yellow or red/brown needles. Other telltale signs include tiny bore holes in the bark, and “blue stain” fungus left by the insect that impedes the flow of water and nutrients in the tree, contributing to tree mortality. In most cases, there are very few “pitch tubes” associated with the attack, due to the very low moisture content in the pine trees. One encour- aging detail is the increased amount of resin flow in pine trees across central Georgia. This indicates the trees are trying to
www.GeorgiaForestryMagazine.com | 21