Differences in bark beetle (Ips typographus and Pityogenes chalcographus) abundance in a strict spruce reserve and the surrounding spruce forests of Serbia

Abstract

Frequent windthrow in the strict reserves of spruce in the Kopaonik National Park provides much material favorable for the development of Ips typographus (L.) and Pityogenes chalcographus (L.) (Coleoptera, Scolytidae). Therefore it was assumed that the abundance of these bark beetles in the reserves was high and that they dispersed to the surrounding spruce forests. To verify this opinion, their population levels were monitored in the strict reserve Jankove Bare and the adjoining spruce forests over the period 2006-2008. I. typographus parasitoids were identified and the parasitism percent was determined in spruce forests around the reserves. Throughout the monitoring period, the abundance of I. typographus and P. chalcographus was found to be lower in the reserve than in the surrounding spruce forests. Five species of I. typographus parasitoids and a low parasitization percent were identified in spruce forests surrounding the reserve.

Assessment of Genetic Diversity and Population Genetic Structure of Norway Spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karsten) at Its Southern Lineage in Europe. Implications for Conservation of Forest Genetic Resources

“…Norway spruce forests in Southern Europe are negatively affected by various stress factors (e.g., drought stress, forest fires, pest and diseases, etc. ), which spruce usually encounter simultaneously or sequentially [6,7]. Climatic change is projected to bring new challenges to spruce populations in this region due to predicted increase of air temperatures and altered precipitation patterns [8,9].…”

The European spruce bark beetle Ips typographus (L.) in wind-damaged stands of the eastern part of the Tatra National Park – the population dynamics pattern remains constant

“…Fahse and Heurich 2011;Temperli et al 2014), especially in the areas under (active) nature protection (e.g. Müller et al 2008;Markovic and Stojanovic 2010;Hilszczański and Starzyk 2017).…”

Influence of different forest protection strategies on spruce tree mortality during a bark beetle outbreak

“…A more recent study suggested that bark beetles migrate more from managed stands to unmanaged stands, primarily due to the fast removal of potential breeding substrates in managed stands (Montano et al 2016). A forest's naturalness can also play a role, as managed stands usually consist of even-aged monocultures, which are more prone to insect outbreaks (Markovic and Stojanovic 2010). However, the migration of bark beetles from unmanaged stands to managed stands, or vice versa, presumably occurs frequently and in both directions.…”

“…The no-intervention strategy is often applied near commercial spruce forests. The development of bark beetle populations in unmanaged versus managed forests is still a subject of controversy (Markovic and Stojanovic 2010;Müller 2011;Švajda et al 2016;Lindenmayer et al 2017). Sproull et al (2017) compared bark beetle-caused tree mortality in neighbouring stands under active and no-intervention protection regimes, and concluded that active bark beetle management is not effective around unmanaged forests.…”