"High in Yellowstone, a Foundational Tree Falters"

"Whitebark pine, denizen of the high country around Yellowstone National Park, faces an invading pest as its climate shifts."

"YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – If you've hiked in the Northern Rockies above 9,000 feet, you've hiked among a whitebark pine forest.

And if you've hiked in Rockies since 2009, you've likely hiked through a dead and dying forest, felled by a widespread outbreak of the mountain pine beetle.

The death is a major concern for conservationists, biologists and public land managers, for the whitebark pine supports the entire ecosystem. Bears, jays and other forest creatures depend heavily on pine seeds for their diet."

Douglas Fischer reports for The Daily Climate October 8, 2014, as part of the Climate At Your Doorstep project.