An Empirical Test of the Role of Small-Scale Transmission in Large-Scale Disease Dynamics.

A key assumption of epidemiological models is that population-scale disease spread is driven by close contact between hosts and pathogens. At larger scales, however, mechanisms such as spatial structure in host and pathogen populations and environmental heterogeneity could alter disease spread. The assumption that small-scale transmission mechanisms are sufficient to explain large-scale infection rates, however, is rarely tested.

Efficacy of verbenone and green leaf volatiles for protecting whitebark and limber pines from attack by mountain pine beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae).

To develop safe and effective methods to protect whitebark pines, Pinus albicaulis Engelmann, and limber pines, Pinus flexilis James, from attack by mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), we compared verbenone and verbenone plus green leaf volatiles (GLVs) for prevention of beetle attack. We used two strategies: area-wide protection where semiochemical-releasing flakes are dispersed over the forest floor, and individual tree tests where flakes are applied to tree trunks. The area-wide bioassays were conducted by applying verbenone- and GLV-releasing flakes without stickers to the forest floor on 0.

The push-pull tactic for mitigation of mountain pine beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) damage in lodgepole and whitebark pines.

In an attempt to improve semiochemical-based treatments for protecting forest stands from bark beetle attack, we compared push-pull versus push-only tactics for protecting lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas ex Loudon) and whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis Engelm.) stands from attack by mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) in two studies. The first was conducted on replicated 4.