How mites can save trees from bark beetle outbreaks

2 years ago
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You probably wouldn’t know it, but mites may be used as a biological weapon. But it’s not about warfare, it’s about saving trees in native forests, especially pine trees in Siberia and North America.
Scientists say climate change has made normally harmless bark beetles as dangerous for pine forests as wildfires. According to them, global warming made pine trees across the U.S., making them more vulnerable.
The largest bark beetle outbreak in Northern America lasted for nearly 20 years before slightly slowing down - simply because there were no trees left. Russia’s Siberian forests face a similar threat from a different pine beetle species - an invasive species that originated in China and Japan.
The insect-damaged trees are of no use and can only be cut and burnt, so it is essential to find a way to prevent such outbreaks in the future.
Scientists from Tyumen University have come up with a solution. They want to use mites that coexist with bark beetles as a sort of biological "weapon" - to save trees and stop forest dieback.

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