Tracking the Extent and Impacts of a Southern Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis) Outbreak in the Bienville National Forest

The Bienville National Forest (BNF) in central Mississippi experienced an outbreak of southern pine beetle (SPB) beginning in 2015 and continuing through 2019. To assess the extent of the outbreak and subsequent treatments of impacted areas, high-resolution imagery was obtained from various sources...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forests 2023-01, Vol.14 (1), p.22
Main Authors: Crosby, Michael K., McConnell, T. Eric, Holderieath, Jason J., Meeker, James R., Steiner, Chris A., Strom, Brian L., Johnson, Crawford (Wood)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bark beetles
Beetles
Dendroctonus frontalis
Digitization
Epidemics
forest disturbance
Forests
High resolution
high-resolution imagery
image analysis
Image resolution
Infestation
Mitigation
Outbreaks
Pest outbreaks
Polygons
Regression models
Roads & highways
Southern Pine Beetle
Storm damage
Timber
Timberlands
Tracking
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Bienville National Forest (BNF) in central Mississippi experienced an outbreak of southern pine beetle (SPB) beginning in 2015 and continuing through 2019. To assess the extent of the outbreak and subsequent treatments of impacted areas, high-resolution imagery was obtained from various sources and interpreted to determine the feasibility of this imagery for detecting SPB spots and tracking their spread and treatments. A negative binomial regression model then described the relationship between spot detection, year, and status (i.e., infestation/treatment) and then incidence rate ratios were calculated. The peak active infestation acreage occurred in 2017 with treatment and mitigation measures peaking in 2018. In total, over 4450 hectares (ha) were treated through 2019 in the BNF. Overall, it is possible to discern small areas of active SPB infestation and treatments. If used as a monitoring method, consistently available high-resolution imagery (e.g., from a satellite) provides an effective means of detecting, evaluating, and tracking infestations and related treatments.
ISSN:1999-4907
1999-4907
DOI:10.3390/f14010022