To answer the following questions, first read DeVore's 2019 article and Leefeldt's 2018 article attached in the photos


Answer the following questions as completely as possible:



1. What trophic level would the bark beetle be, provide evidence for your answer?



2. According to the DeVore reading, has tree density increased or decreased? Provide evidence for your answer.



3. By the behavior described in Leefeldt 2018, is the bark beetle a herbivore, predator, or a parasite? Explain why you choose your answer.



4. Explain what DeVore is saying at the end of the article when he states:

"the timber harvest infrastructure is less than one-third of what it was 30 years ago, meaning that even if politicians were sincere in wanting to manage the public forests, there few people remaining to manage them."



5. Governor Newsom of California has blamed the wildfires on climate change and is continuing to blame the current 2021 wildfires on climate change, why is that statement misleading according to these articles?



6. In either a short 2-3 sentence paragraph or bullet point fashion, explain the link between the bark beetle, climate, forest fires, and management (this should be a combination of information from both articles and any readings to date connecting between these different phenomena).