{"id":8474,"date":"2013-02-01T17:43:46","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T21:43:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?p=8474"},"modified":"2021-11-10T16:46:15","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T20:46:15","slug":"study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm","title":{"rendered":"Study finds pine beetle outbreaks have minimal impact on water quality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naturally occurring pine beetle outbreaks have ravaged forests in Colorado for decades, rapidly clearing tall trees and canopy vegetation for miles. The tiny insects pose a challenge to forest ecosystems there and in other parts of the West.<\/p>\n

Scientists have long hypothesized that the loss of those taller trees would lead to higher nitrate levels in streams, as trees take up the agricultural compound as food. But new research indicates the beetle outbreaks are actually good for streams\u2019 fight against nitrate pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found the beetles don\u2019t disturb watersheds in the same way as logging and severe storms,\u201d said William Lewis, study co-author and interim director of the University of Colorado\u2019s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. \u201cThey leave behind smaller trees and other understory vegetation that compensate for the loss of larger pine trees by taking up more nitrate from the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis and 10 other researchers compared the effects of pine beetle outbreaks with those sustained by streams after logging. They found that nitrate levels in streams near pine beetle outbreaks didn\u2019t go up following the fall of large trees, while nitrate levels in streams near logging sites went up by about 400 percent and retained those levels for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see that logging removes the canopy trees, but it also damages the small vegetation,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cThat blunts the effect little trees have on nitrate uptake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Beetle-killed

Beetle-killed lodgepole pines from Wild Basin in Rocky Mountain National Park (Credit: James H. McCutchan, Jr)<\/p><\/div>\n

Lewis says pine beetle outbreaks affect the smaller trees less than logging. Even moving heavy logging machinery around forest floors can damage understory vegetation.<\/p>\n

Using modeling software, the researchers analyzed stream samples from multiple locations collected over many years for comparison. Each sample was filtered and put through an ion chromatograph, a machine that removes nitrate from water.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked at one stream in the Fraser Experimental Forest and more than 100 streams elsewhere,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cA lot of the studies took place in higher elevations. We took a before-and-after look at beetle kills and compared that to logging.\u201d<\/p>\n

They found that the small trees provide potent water quality protection against the adverse effects of nitrates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasing nitrate concentrations can fertilize algae, increasing the amount of algae,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cThat nutrient enrichment creates undesirable effects in lakes, like color changes or blooms. That\u2019s something that water managers are interested in – excess nutrient supply.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study was a group effort, with contributors from Colorado State University, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a series of related studies that came together. They started out separately, but we decided to collaborate,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cWe knew that forestry and water managers were expecting big changes in water quality as a result of the pine beetle outbreak, so we decided to pool our resources to come up with an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

When looking at nitrate levels after beetle outbreaks, the answer was a surprising one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t see any effect. There was a near zero increase. The fact that it didn\u2019t increase was quite shocking,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cIt shows that a forest ecosystem has a certain kind of resilience. When it\u2019s changed in a large way, the forest compensates.\u201d
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Top image: A pine beetle that had been expelled from a tree by the pitch (Credit: James H. McCutchan, Jr)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[60,115,297],"class_list":["post-8474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rivers-streams","tag-featured","tag-insects","tag-pine-beetle"],"remote_post_permalink":false,"remote_post_featured_image":false,"yoast_head":"\nPine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Environmental Monitor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Kelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Kelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Kelly\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7\"},\"headline\":\"Study finds pine beetle outbreaks have minimal impact on water quality\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\"},\"wordCount\":585,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/pinebeetle.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"featured\",\"insects\",\"pine beetle\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Rivers & Streams\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\",\"name\":\"Pine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/pinebeetle.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7\"},\"description\":\"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/pinebeetle.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.fondriest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/pinebeetle.jpg\",\"width\":420,\"height\":470,\"caption\":\"A pine beetle that had been expelled from a tree by the pitch (Credit: James H. McCutchan, Jr)\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Environmental Monitor\",\"description\":\"Application and technology news for environmental professionals\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7\",\"name\":\"Daniel Kelly\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Kelly\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.fondriest.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/daniel-kelly\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality","description":"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality","og_description":"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm","og_site_name":"Environmental Monitor","article_published_time":"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":420,"height":470,"url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniel Kelly","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Kelly","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Kelly","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7"},"headline":"Study finds pine beetle outbreaks have minimal impact on water quality","datePublished":"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm"},"wordCount":585,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg","keywords":["featured","insects","pine beetle"],"articleSection":["Rivers & Streams"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm","url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm","name":"Pine Beetles Have Minimal Impact on Water Quality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg","datePublished":"2013-02-01T21:43:46+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-10T20:46:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7"},"description":"Study finds ravaged forests are still buffering streams from nitrates","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/study-finds-pine-beetle-outbreaks-have-minimal-impact-on-water-quality.htm#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.fondriest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pinebeetle.jpg","width":420,"height":470,"caption":"A pine beetle that had been expelled from a tree by the pitch (Credit: James H. McCutchan, Jr)"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/","name":"Environmental Monitor","description":"Application and technology news for environmental professionals","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/847643ff7cab0510299c8b13d204eac7","name":"Daniel Kelly","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1b1a53273429ff6b46dfea6cf5731e1278d990bbf6958f4de0ca57131c443dd2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Kelly"},"url":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/author\/daniel-kelly"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8474"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8721,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8474\/revisions\/8721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondriest.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}