Where is the Eastern Larch Beetle? An Exploration of Different Detection Methods in Northern Wisconsin

Foresters and natural resource managers are increasingly exploring opportunities for the early detection of emerging forest health concerns. One of these emerging concerns is the eastern larch beetle (ELB, Dendroctonus simplex LeConte), a native insect of tamarack (Larix laricina (Du Roi) K., Koch). Historically, the ELB attacked only dead or dying trees, but with climate change, it is now becoming a damaging disturbance agent that affects healthy trees as well. This shift creates a need to evaluate the methods used to detect and quantify the impacted areas. In northern Wisconsin, USA, 50 tamarack stands or aerial detection polygons were surveyed in the field during the 2023 growing season to explore different detection tools for ELBs. We visited 20 polygons identified by aerial sketch map surveys as having ELB mortality, 20 tamarack stands identified by the Astrape satellite imagery algorithm as disturbed, and 10 randomly selected stands from the Wisconsin forest inventory database (WisFIRs) for landscape-level context. For each of the detection methods and the Random stands, information on species composition, mortality, signs of ELB, invasive species, and water presence was quantified. ELBs were common across the landscape, but were not always associated with high levels of mortality. While overstory tree mortality was frequently observed in both aerial sketch map surveys and Astrape, it was not always linked to tamarack mortality. Current methods of detection may need to be re-evaluated in this environment. Tamarack stands in northern Wisconsin were highly heterogeneous in species, which is likely contributing to the difficulties in identifying both tamarack mortality and tamarack mortality specifically caused by ELBs across the two detection methods. Given the evolving impacts of climate change and the shifting dynamics between forests and insects, it is essential to evaluate and innovate detection methods to manage these ecosystems effectively.