Washington State's Trees Dry Up Fast

Similar problems have devastated millions of trees throughout the parched intermountain West, including parts of Eastern Washington and Oregon, where a long dry spell has made it easier for wildfires to turn bug-infested, diseased trees into kindling. One of [Karen Ripley]'s callers was Christi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inKnight Ridder Tribune Business News p. 1
Main Author Gordon, Susan
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington Tribune Content Agency LLC 08.06.2004
Subjects
Climate change
Forests
Insects
Mote, Phil
Peterson, David
Rain
Ripley, Karen
Sharp, Christine
Townsend, Dave
Trees
Weather forecasting
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Summary:Similar problems have devastated millions of trees throughout the parched intermountain West, including parts of Eastern Washington and Oregon, where a long dry spell has made it easier for wildfires to turn bug-infested, diseased trees into kindling. One of [Karen Ripley]'s callers was Christine Sharp, a North Bend fifth- grader who noticed red trees, branches and crowns along Interstate 90. Encouraged by her father, she decided to make dying trees the subject of a science project. Christine's dad hooked her up with Ripley, who explained that a lack of moisture leaves trees open to attacks by insects and disease. As far as drought-related threats go, insects are worse, she said. A single family of bark beetles includes 115 species, most of them specific to certain sizes and kinds of trees. Typically, they tunnel through the outer bark and into the phloem, the inner layer which carries sugars from the needles to the roots. The tunneling alone can kill trees; it also might introduce fungi that block the sugar flow, she said.