Why is this research important to Alberta?

• Alberta’s forest sector faces future risk from mountain pine beetle (MPB), threatening timber supply, rural livelihoods, community well-being and ecosystem health.
• TRIA-FoR genomics-enabled research has shed new light on key risk components influencing MPB impacts on forest health.
• We discovered MPB resistance traits in lodgepole pine that can be used to select seed for reforestation.
• Through investigating overwinter energy use by MPB, we are improving outbreak prediction under increasingly chaotic weather patterns.
• We have empirically demonstrated that jack pine forests are less vulnerable than other pine forests in Alberta.
• Collectively, this knowledge can help reduce future forest losses.
• TRIA-FoR aligned with provincial priorities on sustainable forestry and reconciliation by fostering genuine community participation, which revealed the need for investment in youth training and locally informed forest management.

What is the goal of this work? How will genomics be used?

• Improve management of MPB risk by increased understanding of pine resistance to MPB, MPB winter biology, and community priorities.

Genomics is being used to:

• Reveal how beetles and trees function, helping predict why trees survive outbreaks and how much energy beetles retain for spring dispersal and reproduction.

Outcomes of this initiative include:

• Discovery of MPB resistance traits in lodgepole pine, guiding tree improvement and reforestation efforts with survivor seed.
• Models demonstrate that replanting a proportion of MPB-resistant seedlings can slow MPB spread across forested landscapes.
• Quantifying the relative risk of MPB spread through lodgepole pine forests is much greater than through jack pine forests.
• Improved MPB outbreak risk prediction under variable winter conditions.
• Informed how genomics-based tools are communicated and adopted, showing community support for reforestation using survivor seed but caution toward GMOs.
• Demonstrating that forest management co-developed by researchers, governments (federal, provincial, Indigenous), and local communities will contribute to healthier future forests.

What are the expected benefits, and how will the research findings be shared?

• Knowledge and tools arising from TRIA-FoR provide invaluable insights to forest health professionals as they face the next MPB epidemic, facilitating science-based decision-making to reduce forest losses to MPB.
• Tree improvement experts can use TRIA-FoR discoveries to select seeds with MPB resistance traits for reforestation.
• Research findings have been shared through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, public repositories, community outreach, websites as well as stakeholder meetings and reports.
• TRIA-FoR’s unique strategy, which integrates risk modelling, omics, genetics, and ecology with human dimensions, provides a blueprint for investigating other insect and pathogen threats to forest health in Canada and around the world.

Related Resources

Related information can be accessed through:

• Initiative website: TRIA-FoR
• Scientific article: ECR Spotlight – Fouzia Haider | Journal of Experimental Biology | The Company of Biologists
• Scientific article: Early winters could stop the spread of invasive bark beetles | Journal of Experimental Biology | The Company of Biologists
• Research article: Winter intensity shapes overwintering energy gain and use in bark beetles under range expansion
• Research article: Whose Authority Drives the Narrative?: Framing the Spread of Mountain Pine Beetle in Canadian News Media
• Review article: A review of the social and ecological impacts of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) during and after an outbreak on forests in North America