All green plants are food for other creatures. I am repeatedly reminded of this statement from one of my botany professors almost 40 years ago.

I really do not mind this statement, as I am busy eating a beautiful salad. However, I do not like this statement if it is a chipmunk eating recently planted bulbs or hornworms working on my tomato plants.

Let’s say this together: “All green plants are food for other creatures.” Now that wasn’t so bad.

Today, I would like to talk to you about bark beetles and your Southern pine trees. You probably have read stories or heard on the nightly news about how Southern pine beetles “could” destroy Alabama’s timber industry.

Remember the key word: “could.”

In Alabama we have six Southern yellow pines growing in our forests. They are commonly known by these names — longleaf, shortleaf, slash, loblolly, Virginia and spruce. These trees are easily recognizable by their cones, needles and bark as one studies them.

Each tree has its likes and dislikes as to where it prefers to grow, how much water it drinks and how much room it needs to survive. All of these trees are considered pioneer species.

A pioneer species is one that if all of the vegetation is removed from a property and the property is left alone, the pioneer species close by will soon occupy the vacated property. Another thing about pioneer species is that they produce a bunch of windblown seeds.

An openly grown loblolly pine can produce 20,000-25,000 seeds every year, and if they land on bare soil, they will germinate and start to grow. Growing 20,000, 4-inch-tall trees on a baseball field is one thing, but when the trees are the size of the hood of your car, only 75-100 trees can grow on that same field.

What happened to the rest of the trees? They died. Nature thinned the weak trees out of the woods. Tree roots wrestle for nutrients and water in the soil. The loser dies, and the winner goes on to wrestle another day.

This is where the beetles come in to play. If all the trees had to do was wrestle for nutrients, water and sunlight, that would be easy. However, trees have added variables to wrestle with, including fire, disease, storms, lightning, seasons and drought.

Here in Alabama, we have three bark beetles — the black turpentine, ips engraver and Southern pine beetles. The ips engraver can be divided into the small (4 spined), the medium (5 spined), and the large (6 spined) beetles. The small beetle attacks the top third of the tree and the large attacks the bottom third.

Guess where the medium beetle attacks.

Yep; the middle.

These beetles are tiny, ranging in size from one-sixteenth of an inch to one-fourth of an inch long. The three ips engraver beetles only attack weak trees and finish off one already dying.

If one notices pitch tubes (sap that looks like popcorn) in the center of a bark plate, they have the ips beetle. Pulling the bark off an infected tree one will see “galleries,” which form the letter “I” or “H.”

Black turpentine and Southern pine beetles begin killing dying trees, but if their numbers grow large enough, they will attack and kill healthy trees. The largest of the bark beetles is five-sixteenths of an inch long, and the black turpentine beetle only attacks the lower 6 feet of a tree.

Another way to identify this beetle is to notice a reddish-pink color to its pitch tubes.

The most destructive pest in Southern forests is the Southern pine beetle. They only grow to about one-eighth of an inch in length. Living about a year and a half, the female SPB can lay about six generations of beetles each year.

Two ways to identify SPBs is to look at pitch tubes and galleries. SPB pitch tubes are located in the crevasses between the bark plates, and their galleries form the letter “S” under the bark. Should epidemic population levels arise, SPB damage could be catastrophic.

How can you stop bark beetle damage? You can’t, because it’s part of nature. You can, however, reduce the probability of them coming to your forest.

First, if planting pine trees, plant the best tree for the site. Don’t plant loblolly on the mountaintop, and don’t plant longleaf in a wet bog.

Second, burn your pines at least every three years. In some places, the trees need fire every year. Sure some trees will die in the fire, but the strong will get stronger.

Third, use herbicides. A farmer grows more corn without weeds growing in the field. The same thing is true for trees. Hardwoods and privet are weeds in a pine plantation, and they are wrestling with the pines.

Finally, thin the timber before it gets too crowded. Have your timber marked by a professional forester. Not only will you net more money, but your forest will also look better, too.

Remember, bark beetles are part of creation; they are here to stay. The best way to protect your forest is to have strong, vigorously growing trees. The best way to protect large yard trees is to protect their roots.

Place a “Do Not Dig” sign in your yard to remind yourself that if you cut that root, you may kill the tree.

— Baril is an extension forester of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Email questions to ajb0012@auburn.edu or call 205-221-3392.