Integrated Management of Bark Beetles: Economic Contributions of Peter Berck and Foundational Entomological Research

Bark beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae, Scolytinae) are a major threat to coniferous forests across much of the northern hemisphere, especially in a warmer and drier climate (Fettig et al., 2013). Control of bark beetle outbreaks to protect forests has been a recurring quest for more than a century, with varying success. In the 1970s and 1980s, considerable efforts were directed toward resolving controversies over the application of persistent pesticides as the principal method to manage outbreaks. Advances in research on pheromones of bark beetles and other behavioral compounds during these decades were incorporated into more ecologically benign approaches to managing stands. What emerged was integrated pest management. “Integrated pest management is a process of synthesis where all aspects of the pest-host system are studied and evaluated to provide the resource manager with an information base for decision-making. These aspects include the ecological and socioeconomic components of the system, its interrelations with other resources, treatment tactics to be used, and their effects on the pest and other components of the ecosystem. Evaluation of the decisions implemented is the end of the process and the beginning of a new one, refining the various components of the system to improve the decision support base for future decisions” (Stark & Waters, 1985, pp. 50–52).