Northeast Region of Ontario, 1996
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y I / f FOREST HEALTH CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHEAST REGION OF ONTARIO, 1996 Forest Districts: Chapleau, Cochrane, Hearst, Kirkland Lake, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins, and Wawa H.J. Evans, C.G. Jones, B.E. Smith, D.T. Rowlinson, andM.W. Francis NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA CANADIAN FOREST SERVICE GREAT LAKES FORESTRY CENTRE 1997 OVERVIEW Program reviews and budget reductions announced in February 1995 by the federal government have resulted in changes to the Forest Insect and Disease Survey (FIDS) Program. FIDS has been merged with the former Long Range Transport Airborne Pollutants Program to form a nationally focused Forest Health Network (FHN). This joint report for 1996 (Canadian Forest Service and Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources [OMNR]) was made possible through assisstance from the OMNR to expand the field survey from what couldbe undertaken under the national FHN. The ForestHealthMonitoring (FHM) Unit of the FHN is comprisedof the formerFIDS Unit, and activities include the Acid Rain National Early Warning System (ARNEWS); the North American Maple Project (NAMP); and spruce/fir, jack pine, maple, andoak forest health plots. Major forest disturbances such asthe spruce budworm, forest tent caterpillar, gypsy moth, and jackpine budworm will be monitored. Aswell, quarantine surveys for thegypsy moth, pine shoot beetle and other pests will continue. Ten forest health monitoring technicians spent sixteen weeks in the field during 1996. Field activity focused on various forest health plots and on aerial surveys for major forest disturbances. This report summarizes the results of plot monitoring and of surveys for major forest disturbances in the OMNR Northeast Region in 1996. Field staff who worked in the region and contributed to this report included: Chuck Jones, stationed in Chapleau; Barry Smith, located in Moonbeam; Hugh Evans, based in Sault Ste. Marie; Dan Rowlinson, posted in the Sudbury area; and Mike Francis who worked the southeast portion ofthe North Bay District. Insect infestations were highlighted by reductions in the area affected by both the spruce budworm and the jack pine budworm. The forest tent caterpillar infestation expanded and there were recurrences of the aspen twoleaf tier and the gypsy moth. Disease surveys were limited, but a report is included on Scleroderris canker in the Kirkland Lake District. There was widespread damage to conifers caused by winter drying. Localized problems to forest health are outlined in tabular form. Various pests were found when monitoring the forest health plot network. Tree condition information for these plots is self-explanatory and thus summarized in tabular form. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the OMNR and the forest industry personnel for their assistance and cooperation during the 1996 field season. H.J. Evans C.G. Jones B.E. Smith D.T. Rowlinson M.W. Francis TABLE OF CONTENTS MAJOR FOREST DISTURBANCES Insects Spruce Budworm, Choristoneurafumiferana 1 (All districts) Jack Pine Budworm, Choristoneura p. pinus 7 (Chapleau, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Timmins districts) Aspen Twoleaf Tier, Enargia decolor 10 (All districts) Forest Tent Caterpillar, Malacosmadisstria 12 (Cochrane, Chapleau, Hearst, Kirkland Lake, and Timmins districts) Diseases Scleroderris Canker, Gremmeniella abietina 16 (Kirkland Lake and Sault Ste. Marie districts) Abiotic Conditions Winter Drying 17 (Chapleau, Kirkland Lake, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Timmins and Wawa districts) Other Agents Damaging Forest Trees 17 (All districts) FOREST HEALTH PLOT MONITORING AcidRain National EarlyWarning System (ARNEWS) 21 (All districts) Maple Health 23 (North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudburydistricts) TABLE OF CONTENTS North American Maple Project (NAMP) 26 (NorthBay and Sault Ste. Marie districts) Jack Pine Health 29 (Chapleau, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, and Sudbury districts) Spruce/Fir Health 31 (All districts) QUARANTINE PESTS Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar 34 (All districts) Pine Shoot Beetle, Tomicuspiniperda 38 (Sault Ste. Marie District) APPENDICES Appendix 1 . Spruce Budworm Eggmass Data Appendix 2 . Jack Pine Budworm Eggmass Data Appendix 3 . ARNEWS Tables 9, 10, 11 & 12. Deciduous / Conifer Crown Conditions Appendix 4. Maple Health Plot Data Appendix 5 . Jack Pine Crown Conditions Appendix 6. Jack Pine Top Condition And Tree Mortality Appendix 7.. Spruce / Fir Health Data Appendix &. Spruce / Fir Crown Condition And Tree Mortality MAJOR FOREST DISTURBANCES Insects Spruce Budworm, Choristoneurafumiferana (Clem.) The areainfested by sprucebudworm decreased by about50 percent, from 334 907 ha in 1995 to 167 714 hain 1996 (Fig. 1). Of the six districts thatrecorded damage lastyear, only the Chapleau and SaultSte. Mariedistricts registered increases (Table 1). Damage occurred on both balsam fir {Abies balsamea [L.] Mill.) and white spruce (Picea glauca [Moench] Voss). Table 1. Gross area of moderate to severe defoliation caused by the spruce budworm in the Northeast Region in 1995 and 1996. Area of moderate to severe defoliation 1995 1996 Change (ha) District Chapleau 2 695 31433 28 738 Hearst 53 413 3 334 -50 079 North Bay 28 269 26 116 -2 153 Sault Ste. Marie 2 713 3 194 481 Sudbury 26 371 22 501 -3 870 Wawa 221446 81 136 -140 310 Total 336902 169 710 -167 192 Previous areas ofmoderate to severe defoliation mapped in Elgie, Arnott, Rogers, and Studholme townships in the Hearst District collapsed, leaving only two small remnant pockets of damage totaling 3 334 ha. The largest ofthese two was located inRogers Township; the other occurredin ArnottTownship on the northend of Skunk Lake. In the Wawa District the area of moderate to severe defoliation decreased from 221 446 ha in 1995 to 81 136 ha in 1996. For the most part this was confined to an area south of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) tracks, between theeastern boundary of Pukaskwa National Park and the town of Dubreuilville. Although areas of severe (>75 percent) and moderate (25-75 percent) defoliation were delineated, the majority was variable. In Dahl Township, for example, occasional 10-to 15-mbalsam fir and 15-m white spruce had up to 75 percent defoliation. Other similar sized trees in the same stand showed only 10 percent defoliation. The situation was NORTHEAST REGION Area defoliated 167 714 ha PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS 1. COCHRANE 2. HEARST 3. WAWA 4. CHAPLEAU 5. TIMMINS 6. KIRKLAND LAKE 7. SAULT STE. MARIE KILOMETERS 8. SUDBURY FOREST HEALTH MONITORING 9. NORTH BAY 0 50 100 NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA CANADIAN FOREST SERVICE Figure 1. Areas within which moderate to severe defoliation caused by the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana [Clem.]) occurred in 1996. 2 similar in Alanen Township, where discrete pockets of severely (>75 percent) defoliated 16-m balsam fir and white spruce were surrounded byextensive areas of light to moderately damaged host trees. A ground survey in Dambrossio Township revealed that occasional 15-m balsam fir sustained 75 percent current defoliation; however, the majority of balsam fir averaged only 10 to 30 percent foliar loss. The spruce budworminfestation in the Chapleau District expandedconsiderably in this, its second year, and resulted in the severe defoliation of 31 433 ha ofbalsam fir and white spruce. Centered nearBiscotasing, the infestation encompassed partsof 12 townships between Carew and Smuts townships in the north and Kelso and Bazett townships in the south. A large part of the 10-to 15-m balsam fir component damaged was under a trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) overstory. The infestation that began in 1989 along the Sudbury and North Bay district boundary recurred in 1996. Although the intensity of defoliation appeared to be less fervent than in other years, the area ofdamage remained similar to thatof 1995. Areasof severe defoliation occurred in the townships of Crerar, Ratter, andDunnet; smaller pockets ofdamage were evident in Henry and Hugel townships. The pockets of severe defoliation were encompassed by a larger area of moderate defoliation. Another area of moderate defoliation, first recorded in 1995, between Blackwater and Round lakes on the Whitefish First Nation in the Sudbury District declined significantly in area. Previously infested pockets on Manitoulin Island were not evident in 1996. The main area of infestation in the Sault Ste. Marie District was located within the city of Sault Ste. Marie. The total area infested here increased slightly, but the level of damage was entirely inthe moderate category. Small pockets of moderate defoliation were also recorded in Kirkwood Township and east of Highway 108, southeast of Elliot Lake in Proctor Township. Numerous pockets of recently dead balsam fir and white spruce, totaling 527 707 ha, were mapped in the Hearst and Wawa districts (Fig. 2). This area of damage extended from Rogers Township, Hearst District, in asouthwesterly direction north and west of Manitouwadge, and into Pukaskwa National Park. The spruce budworm pheromone trapping program was repeated. Three traps were deployed at atotal of 53 locations in each district ofthe region. Results for the past 5 years from these locations are presented inTable 2. Egg-mass samples were taken from anumber of locations in order to forecast populations for 1997 (Appendix 1). NORTHEAST REGION Area of mortality • 527 707 ha PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS 1. COCHRANE 2. HEARST 3. WAWA 4. CHAPLEAU 5. TIMMINS 6. KIRKLAND LAKE 7. SAULT STE. MARIE KILOMETERS 8. SUDBURY FOREST HEALTH MONITORING