Predicting abundance and productivity of blueberry plants under insect defoliation in Alaska

ABSTRACT

Unprecedented outbreaks of defoliating insects severely damaged blueberry crops near Port Graham on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska from 2008-2012. The Native people in this region rely heavily on gathered blueberries and other foods for sustenance and nourishment. Influences of topography and stand structure on blueberry abundance and fruiting were examined and used to develop spatial models to predict abundance and productivity of blueberry plants. Fruiting was associated with decreased canopy density, a low basal area and southwesterly aspects. Stands with relatively high site indices have greater abundance of blueberry plants, while the opposite trend was observed with productivity. Results demonstrate the feasibility of modeling the abundance and productivity of blueberry plants using easily obtained satellite imagery in conjunction with a well-organized field data collection system.

KEYWORDS:

• Epirrita undulata
• Operophera bruceata
• subsistence food
• blueberry
• Alaska
• Port Graham

Acknowledgments

In order to conduct this research, we had to be sensitive to the proprietary nature of the traditional ecological knowledge we utilized to inform our models, specifically the location of traditional berry harvesting areas. The tribe was very concerned with blueberry resource data becoming available outside of the tribe and would not agree to the research without guarantees to the confidentiality of the data and modeling products. The Tribe felt comfortable sharing their traditional ecological knowledge with the research team because of trust built between the tribe and the research team on past collaborative projects. This trust was critical to the success of this project.

We would like to thank the Elders from Port Graham, the Port Graham Tribal Council, and landowners near Port Graham for their support of this project for without their support this project would not have been possible.

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by a grant from the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service award F13AP00533.