The Invasion of the Southern Pine Bark Beetle

The Southern Pine Bark Beetle is a pest that is native to the south eastern United States. Historically the population has been held to southern parts of the nation due to the harsher cold weather in the north. During the last twenty years there has been an increase in average annual temperatures on the east coast. This has allowed the species to move northward and afflict unprotected softwoods at a high rate. The objective of this project was to observe the movement of the Southern Pine Bark Beetles between 2012 and a population estimate for 2027 made by the USDA Forest Service. I was able to graph this potential movement using the ArcMaps software as well as determine spots that are likely to be heavily effected.https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/slides/1011/thumbnail.jp