Extreme cold helping eliminate mountain pine beetles
Feb 11, 2019 | 11:38 AM
An associate professor at the University of Alberta says recent bitter temperatures may put a major dent in the destructive mountain pine beetle population.
Janice Cooke, who works in the department of biological sciences, says having a nightly low around minus 35 Celsius is killing untold numbers of young beetles.
Cooke estimates that the recent cold snap has killed 90% of pine beetle larvae infestations in some areas of the province, but she admits the cold will never kill them all.
The insect has killed more than 16-million hectares of B-C forest and has begun destroying vast areas of Alberta’s boreal habitat.