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Pinetum in Imperial Graveyard Survives Insects Attack
North China's largest ancient pinetum situated in the West Mausoleum of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) stayed in good condition despite attacks by pine caterpillars.
Built in 1730 in present-day Yixian County in Hebei Province, the mausoleum accommodates some 80 members of royal families of the Qing Dynasty, including 4 emperors, their empresses, concubines and offspring.
In order to shade the mausoleum, the Qing authorities made workers plant pinetrees and cypresses in the graveyard in an area of 800 sq. km.
An unexpected pine moth plague ravaged the pine forest in 1999, and workers at the graveyard and the pinetum management office initiated an emergent move to fight against the caterpillars.
Aerial spraying and paint pesticide on the tree trunks has eradicated the imagoes and larvae. Workers then replanted various types of trees in the graveyard area to sustain a balanced ecological system, which attracted swarms of birds of different species.
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