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.

Summary

Forest conditions and ownership patterns are extremely variable throughout the Piedmont. Some lands are cultured intensively whereas others receive minimal attention. This wide range of conditions favors multiple pests; however, losses are greatest from littleleaf disease and southern pine beetle.

Site and stand conditions favorable to these two pests are well understood. Means are now available to rate sites for the likelihood of littleleaf occurrence using soil characteristics. The risk of SPB spot occurrence and growth can be determined based on site and stand conditions. Strategies have been developed to compensate for these pests and the risk they pose on high-hazard sites:

1. Regenerate stands using more resistant species, proper site preparation techniques, and stocking control.
2. Use thinning and salvage cutting to maintain stand vigor and reduce the susceptibility or severity of losses in young stands.
3. Reduce volume losses in older stands by intermediate cuttings and, where necessary, shorten the rotation.

Recognizing, evaluating, and treating high-risk littleleaf-SPB sites provide a significant opportunity for increasing forest productivity in the Piedmont.

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