Managing Piedmont Forests To Reduce Losses From the Littleleaf Disease – Southern Pine Beetle Complex

R.P. Belanger – Principal Silviculturist, USDA Forest Service, Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, Athens, GA,
R.L. Hedden – Forest Entomologist, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, and
F.H. Tainter – Forest Pathologist, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.

Integrated Pest Management Handbook, USDA, Forest Service, Agriculture Handbook No. 649, March 1986.

In 1980, the Forest Service and the Cooperative State Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated the Integrated Pest Management Research, Development, and Applications Program for Bark Beetles of Southern Pines. This research/applications effort concentrates on pine bark beetles and associated tree diseases in the South. This is one in a series of Integrated Pest Management handbooks.

Introduction The Piedmont is a geographic region located between the Appalachian Mountains and the Coastal Plain of the southern United States. This strip of rolling flat hills extends 1,000 miles from New York State, through Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and into Alabama (Fig. 1). At one time or another, most of this land an estimated 85,000 square miles – was cleared and intensively cultivated for agricultural row crops. Exploitation and neglect of the land depleted to fertility of the soil and led to serious erosion. Wars and depressions forced migration from farms and widespread land abandonment, and forests quickly reclaimed the fields. Of the major species, loblolly and shortleaf pine occupied much of the southern portions of the Piedmont while shortleaf and Virginia pine and associated hardwoods reforested the central and northern sections. Today, more than half the Piedmont is in some stage of reforestation (Fig. 2). Forest lands are concentrated mainly in the central and southern portions of the region. Farmlands in the northernmost States remain in cultivation. Approximately half the forest acreage is in natural and planted pines while the other half is composed of hardwoods. The pine component contributes significantly to the economy and ecology of the region. Yet the potential productivity of this resource is often reduced significantly because of damage by two pests: littleleaf disease and the southern pine beetle (SPB) (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann). Losses to these two pests commonly exceed $150 million a year.

Figure 1 – The Piedmont extends through the southeastern United States.

Figure 2 – Many Piedmont forests originated from natural seeding.

Outbreaks of the SPB in the Piedmont are cyclic in nature, sometimes widespread in distribution, and often spectacular to witness. Losses caused by littleleaf are more subtle, resulting from a gradual decline in stand vigor, reductions in tree growth, and scattered mortality over time. Collectively, they are the most serious forest pests affecting conifers in the Piedmont. Synergistic interactions between the site, fungus, host trees, and the beetle can compound losses. This handbook provides guidelines for recognizing potential littleleaf disease-southern pine beetle problems, describes how the two pests interact, and recommends management practices to reduce losses in the Piedmont.

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