Spruce bark beetles still pose a threat to the Forest [VIDEO]

Within only three days the amount of entrapped bark beetles in the Białowieża Forest District exceeded 164 litres. This means another difficult year for spruces in the Białowieża Forest.
09.05.2017 | BIAŁOWIEŻA FOREST DISTRICT

Within only three days the amount of entrapped bark beetles in the Białowieża Forest District exceeded 164 litres. This means another difficult year for spruces in the Białowieża Forest.

The beginning of bark beetle summer swarming falls on the turn  of April and  May and it depends on the weather and foremost the temperature. Bark beetles swarm when the ground temperature reaches 14oC.

April and the beginning of May of this year were cold and rainy, with frequent spring frost periods. . However, during the last weekend (5-7 of May) the temperature rapidly increased – within a day it reached 25oC. Such short warming was enough to fill up the feromone traps with bark beetles within three days.

There were 170 insect traps placed within the area Białowieża Forest District by foresters, which were filled with 164 litres of bark beetles, that is 6.5 million insects.We broke a record, but we shouldn’t be happy about it. It forecasts another difficult year for spruces in the Białowieża Forest. Other trees will soon be inhabited- the foresters say solicitously.

During 2015 the amount of trapped bark beetles equaled 155 litres, in 2016 this very amount  increased to 205 litres. The figure for  the bark  beetles trapped within those three days shows the great potential of the insect. This phenomenon obliges foresters from the Białowieża forest to intensify the already existing monitoring and to react quickly  in case of detecting infested trees.

Currently, the regulations introduced by the Ministry of the Environment enable foresters to react actively in case such a tree is detected. Few years ago  such activities were not possible.

The film shows increased bark beetle fly next to insect traps placed in the Baltorówka forest inspectorate, which on 5 of May was observed by foresters. In this forest inspectorate a three-day ‘crop’ of trapped bark beetles  was over 45 liters of insects out of 30 feromone traps.

Insect traps play a major role in the monitoring of bark beetle swarming  progress. The quantity of trapped insects shows the  scale and dynamics of gradation  which occurs in the Białowieża Forest. The gradation will not be stopped only by capturing insects into traps. Trapped insects constitute scant number in comparison to those that hibernate in litter and under the tree bark.