Beetle Damage in Black Hills, South Dakota

These false-color images contrast a section of pine forest in the Black Hills of South Dakota before and after an epidemic of mountain pine beetles. Cold winters normally kill beetle eggs and keep the population down, but recent winters were warmer than usual so the number of beetles rose dramatically. The trees on which they preyed had been weakened by prolonged dry conditions in the early 2000s, increasing their vulnerability. Patches of dead trees appear reddish in the 2018 image. The reddish patch at the lower right of the 1992 image is a burn scar from the Galena Fire of 1988. A similar patch on the left of the 2018 image is a burn scar from 2000’s Jasper Fire. Image from 1992 taken by Landsat 5. Image from 2018 taken by Landsat 8. Source: U.S. Geological Survey’s National Land Imaging Image Collections