Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA.
Am Nat. 2012 May;179(5):E163-71. doi: 10.1086/665007. Epub 2012 Mar 23.
The mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae) is native to western North America, attacks most trees of the genus Pinus, and periodically erupts in epidemics. The current epidemic of the MPB is an order of magnitude larger than any previously recorded, reaching trees at higher elevation and latitude than ever before. Here we show that after 2 decades of air-temperature increases in the Colorado Front Range, the MPB flight season begins more than 1 month earlier than and is approximately twice as long as the historically reported season. We also report, for the first time, that the life cycle in some broods has increased from one to two generations per year. Because MPBs do not diapause and their development is controlled by temperature, they are responding to climate change through faster development. The expansion of the MPB into previously inhospitable environments, combined with the measured ability to increase reproductive output in such locations, indicates that the MPB is tracking climate change, exacerbating the current epidemic.
山松甲虫（Dendroctonus ponderosae）原产于北美洲西部，攻击松属的大多数树种，并定期爆发疫情。目前山松甲虫的疫情规模比以往任何一次都要大一个数量级，其侵袭范围达到了前所未有的高海拔和高纬度地区。本研究表明，在科罗拉多前缘山脉的空气温度升高 20 年后，山松甲虫的飞行季节比历史上报道的季节提前了一个多月，而且时间几乎是之前的两倍。我们还首次报告称，一些幼虫的生命周期从每年一代增加到了两代。由于山松甲虫不会滞育，其发育受温度控制，因此它们通过更快的发育来应对气候变化。山松甲虫扩展到以前不适宜的环境中，加上在这些地点测量到的增加繁殖力的能力，表明山松甲虫正在追踪气候变化，从而加剧了当前的疫情。
