Examining Epidemics
Purpose
- to use maps and data to analyze how MPB epidemics have occurred in
the past and may occur in the future
Materials
- computer lab time to access to the following websites:
- Examining Epidemics student worksheet (one set of
questions/graphs per student or pair)
Time Needed
• 45-60 minutes
Class Arrangement
• individual or
pairs
Vocabulary
Historical
outbreaks
Mean monthly temperature
Climate change
Procedure
- Have students set themselves up in the computer lab and bookmark the two websites noted
previously.
- Have students work through the questions listed on the Examining Epidemics worksheet while in the computer lab.
Answers
- - southwest Alberta
- good
habitat and climate for MPB success
- Cold November temperatures killed off many MPB larvae.
- Larvae are not adaptable to cold temperatures.
- An increase
in temperature could mean increase in MPB populations.
- Any community in the boreal
forest
- ~33%, ~45%, ~70%
Teacher Note: Teachers can
order a free poster kit, Between the Stands, from Inside Education that shows the distribution of lodgepole and jack pine across
Canada (to answer one of the questions on the next page).
Student Worksheet
Name: _________________________
Mountain pine beetle outbreaks have occurred in the past, but not with
the severity of the current outbreak in British Columbia. Governments,
industry, and other land managers in Alberta have been keeping track of
MPB outbreaks in order to learn more about how and when these events
occur.
Using the Alberta Government’s and the British Columbia
Government’s mountain pine beetle websites, and the charts and maps that
have been provided, answer the following questions:
- Examine the historical maps of MPB outbreaks at
www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/forests/health/mpb_cond.html. Where in Alberta have
outbreaks historically occurred? Why might the outbreaks be happening in
these areas specifically?
- Look at the 1985 historical map at
www3.gov.ab.ca/srd/forests/health/mpb_cond.html and the Mean Monthly
Temperature in Banff During the Month of November graph below.
Explain why you think the MPB outbreak of 1985 did not continue to 1986.
A graph showing the mean monthly temperature in Banff during the month of November from 1960 – 1996. The y-axis shows temperature and the x-axis shows the year. The normal temperatures are between –2° C and +4° C degrees. The year 1973 shows a sharp spike down in temperature to -4° C and down again in 1985 to -9°C.
© Inside Education / 2005
- Why is the temperature in November particularly important to the
MPB? How could an overall increase in temperature due to climate change
affect the population of
MPB?
- The MPB has severely affected an ecoregion of Canada know as the
Montane Cordillera, which is characterized by the presence of lodgepole
pine. Forest scientists fear that the beetle may adapt to be able to
colonize jack pine (a species related to lodgepole pine). Using the
internet or map provided by your teacher, find out where in Alberta you
could find jack pine (Hint: Look up Boreal Plains).
List at least 5 communities in Alberta that
could be directly affected if the MPB does begin to colonize jack
pine.
- Using the Provincial Level Projection of the Current MPB Outbreak
slide show at
www.for.gov.bc.ca/hre/bcmpb/cumulative/title.htm, estimate:
- The per cent of British Columbia covered with pine
trees.
- The per cent of those trees that have been affected by the
MPB.
- The per cent of those trees that are expected to be killed by the
MPB by the year 2014.
