Developing proactive management options to sustain bristlecone and limber pine ecosystems in the presence of a non-native pathogen

Limber pine and Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine are currently threatened by the non-native pathogen white pine blister rust (WPBR). Limber pine is experiencing mortality in the Northern Rocky Mountains and the infection front continues to move southward. The first report of WPBR on Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine was made in 2003 (Blodgett and Sullivan 2004), at a site that is more than 220 miles away from the former infection front. No mortality has been observed in this recently infected area but the species is highly susceptible. There are no ecological reasons to suspect that WPBR on bristlecone and the southern distribution of limber pine will not expand over time. Learning from experiences in impacted ecosystems will facilitate the development of proactive measures to mitigate impacts in these southern populations in the future. If no action is taken, and the pathogen takes its course, we risk losses of aesthetic landscapes; impacts to ecosystem boundaries, successional pathways, and watershed processes; and shifts from forested to treeless sites at some landscape positions. This paper introduces an interdisciplinary approach to developing proactive management options for limber and bristlecone pines in the southern Rocky Mountains. Managers, researchers, operational professionals and interested public groups will have to work together and share their knowledge and perspectives to sustain these ecosystems for future generations.