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Mountain pine beetle poised to invade, ravage forests of Eastern Canada

According to a new documentary by filmmaker David York, the forests of Eastern Canada are under threat of invasion by a species of beetle that is already causing problems in western Canada, and the underlying cause of the threat is climate change.

[ Related: Mountain pine beetle poised to ravage eastern Canada ]

The mountain pine beetle doesn't appear very threatening when you look at it. The rice-grain-sized beetles are a native species of British Columbia, and inhabit several types of pine tree in the region. Apparently, under normal conditions, they are quite beneficial to the forest environment, as they kill off old and weak trees, allowing more light through the tree canopy to the ground, which helps younger, stronger trees to grow up in their place. However, over the past several years, warmer, drier winters in B.C. have caused a population explosion for the beetle. They have now spread far beyond their normal habitat, including into Alberta, and their numbers are causing extensive damage to the forest ecosystem.

"Nobody would have expected that a simple degree and a half of warming in the interior of B.C. would unleash a beetle outbreak in 18 million hectares worth of pine forest," said York, according to CBC News.

Scientists expect that, as the climate continues to change, the beetle's advance will continue across the country in the coming decades. Even the trees the beetles originally called home — lodgepole pines which had adapted defenses against the effects of the beetle's life-cycle — were unable to stand up to their increased numbers. With these beetles expanding into pine forests that lack these defenses, the effects will be devastating.

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This entire issue serves to highlight how, when we talk about climate change, the focus is usually on how rising sea levels or extreme weather will impact on civilization. Little focus seems to be given to "the unanticipated effects", as York puts it, but given that this is a threat to one of the largest forest ecosystems on the planet, it's definite worth our attention.

York's documentary, titled The Beetles Are Coming, will be shown on CBC TV's The Nature of Things tonight (Thursday) at 8 p.m.

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