The Whitebark Pine & Yellowstone Wildlife Conservation

At elevations approaching 10,000 feet, armed with a compass, a GPS device and hiking boots, Ecology Project International (EPI) students collect data while surveying the U.S. Forest Service’s transects for signs of whitebark pine ailments. As our students quickly learn, however, a whitebark pine without ailments is even harder to find. Travelling through a mosaic of green and reddish brown (dead) stands of conifers in the

Gallatin National Forest, the telltale signs of blister rust and mountain pine beetle damage become apparent.

Late last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service –one of our research partners in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem – announced that over the next year it will consider adding the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) to the endangered species list. Though a few other trees have been unlucky enough to make the list in the past, they have only been species limited in range to a single island or small geographic niche. The whitebark pine, if selected, would be the first and only wide-ranging tree to ever make the endangered species list.

A mainstay of Western North American highlands and a crucial grizzly bear food source, the whitebark pine has come under attack in recent years from two directions. With milder winters brought on by climate change, the range of the mountain pine beetle has been allowed to expand into higher elevations, killing huge swaths of forest. Simultaneously, an invasive English fungus – blister rust – has infected, weakened or killed over half of the Rockies’ whitebark pine forests since 1970. According to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “in certain parts of its range close to a half of whitebark pine trees are already dead and between 80-100% of the remaining trees are infected with blister rust or beetles and eventually will die.”

Erasing the whitebark pine from the greater Yellowstone ecosystem could have an immeasurable effect on the ecosystem as a whole. A study in 2003 by Washington State University on Yellowstone grizzly bear diet found that during masting years (high cone production years), whitebark pine nuts provided over half of the grizzly’s fat and protein source. A threat to the whitebark pine is a direct threat to grizzly bear. Life, in this way, is rarely hermetically sealed: climate change affects the beetles; the beetles affect the pine; the pine affects the grizzly; and the consequences cascade through the ecosystem.

Thankfully, a few governmental and nonprofit organizations are working to stave off the outbreaks. EPI students on our Yellowstone Wildlife Ecology Program get their hands dirty and their brows sweaty learning to identify the whitbark pine, spot potential symptoms and identify the culprit: cambium rodent chews, “flagging”, beetle bore holes, fungal growth… etc. The data that they collect is used as a piece of a larger study being conducted by the U.S. Forest Service. In assisting with this research, EPI students help move the scientific community a step closer to identifying resistant strains, assessing regional damage and developing an informed recovery plan.

How you can help:

• Support organizations like the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation
• Assist with whitebark pine data collection through EPI’s Yellowstone Wildlife Ecology Program
• Reduce your carbon footprint, calculate carbon emissions and purchase carbon offsets