Impacts of Hemlock Looper

Outbreaks in the Mount Revelstoke

and Glacier National Park Region:
Implications for Mountain Caribou

Dr. Rene Alfaro, Canadian Forest Service

Angus Shand, Canadian Forest Service
Gregg Walker, Mount Revelstoke & Glacier National Parks
 Photo Parks Canada

Rangifer tarandus caribou

 Caribou Population Trend
500

400
Population Size

300

200

100

0
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008
Year

From McLellan, Serroya and Flaa 2004 (by permission)

 Habitat Selection

• Seip 1992
• Simpson et al. 1997
• Apps et al. 2001
• McLellan et al. 2004

Photo Parks Canada

Old ICH forest stands

Disturbance of Habitat
Photo Parks Canada

Photo Parks Canada

Western hemlock looper
Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa

Photo Canadian Forest Service

Photo Parks Canada

What about western hemlock looper
disturbance?

Photo Parks Canada

Range of Effects

Photo Jackie Morris

Research questions
• What are the effects of hemlock looper defoliation on
caribou habitat attributes?

• What is the historical frequency, intensity and extent

of looper disturbance?

• What landscape variables influence outbreak

frequency and severity?
Which habitat attributes could be
influenced by defoliation?

•Amount of old growth in ICH

•measured tree mortality in old stands affected by looper
•determined distribution of defoliation patch size
•Understorey richness in caribou forage
•Amount of lichen on ground and on trees. Also on
dead trees
•Understorey characteristics that affect mobility (CWD)
Defoliated
hemlock
Methods (1)
•Defined area of interest: the Columbia Forest District
•Overlaid defoliation history on the terrain
•Selected 5 stands in each of the following
Areas affected by
–1930’s outbreak
–1970’s outbreak
–1980’s outbreak
–1990’s outbreak
–2000’s outbreak
–Affected repeatedly: 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s
–Areas never affected
Methods (2)

Within each stand

• 4 plots to measure overstorey characteristics
• 4 plots to measure richness of understorey vegetation
Measured :
• Tree mortality, top-kill, defoliation level, CWD, understorey
richness, lichen on ground and on trees, wildlife tree class
• Took increment cores for dendrochronology of past outbreaks
Results

•Looper disturbance is recurrent

•Looper causes tree mortality
•Level of mortality depends on defoliation intensity
•Mortality is patchy. Hard to detect with random sampling
•Outbreak progression follows a pattern relative to BEC subzone
•Lichen level (on ground) reduced in recently defoliated areas but
recovers to old-growth levels in about 30 years
•Understorey richness higher in recently disturbed stands
History of looper

A recurrent insect:
Up to four outbreaks
have occurred since
records kept in the
1930’s
 No Recorded Outbreaks
Possible 1870’s

1991-94
Possible 1900’s 1982-83
1980’s, 1990’s and Possible 1970’s
2000’s Outbreaks

2002-05
Patch of mortality
Distribution of very severely defoliated
patches
 Mortality in survey plots
Hemlock mortality
Hw Dead %
30

25

b b b b b
20
a a
Percentage

15

10

0
1930 1970 1980 1990 2000 1980- Never
1990-
2000
Outbreak

Our survey design did not detect differences in mortality

between the most recently disturbed stands and the
“never” disturbed stands
Lichen levels
Shannon’s diversity

2.0

b
1.8
b
b b
a a
1.6
aba a
Shanno's index (H')

a
1.4 a

1.2

1.0

Mean+SE
Mean-SE
0.8
1930 1970 1980 1990 2000 80,90,00 never Mean

Year
Cover of all understorey and of forage
110
c
100 Understorey cover % c
Caribou forage %
90 c

80
bc
70 ab

60 ab
a
50
b
b b
Cover (%)

40 b
b
30
ab
20 a
10

0
1930 1970 1980 1990 2000 80,90,00 never
Year
Lichen litter on ground
1.8

ab
1.6
b
b
1.4

a
Number of 5 gram bags

1.2 a a a
a a a
a 1.0

a
0.8 a

0.6

0.4
Mean+SE
Mean-SE
0.2
1930 1970 1980 1990 2000 1980-2000 never Mean

Year
Conclusion

•Looper disturbance is recurrent

•Looper causes tree mortality
•Level of mortality depends on defoliation intensity
•Mortality is patchy. Hard to detect with random sampling
•Outbreak progression follows a pattern relative to BEC subzone
•Lichen level (on ground) reduced in recently defoliated areas but
recovers to old-growth levels in about 30 years
•Understorey richness higher in recently disturbed stands