The matter in summary: Strong winds during storms in 2021 have led to an upsurge of the spruce bark beetle in southern Norway. The beetles spread from the dead trees to fresher forest, reducing the value of the forest by over 50%. The forestry industry has not managed to prevent the spread of these beetles despite clean-up after the storm. There is a poor overview of the extent of the damage, but the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy has set out counting traps to get a better overview. Climate change can lead to higher numbers of beetles and outbreaks of certain species. Pests such as the spruce bark beetle get better growing conditions in a warmer climate. ————————————-The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. After two severe storms in November 2021 and January 2022, spruce bark beetles have flourished in dead trees that fell during the severe storm. Now the unwanted beetles are spreading to healthy forest. – There are always new gusts of wind at the outer edges where we clear. Barkbilla goes straight for old forest and weak forest that is not resistant, says Terje Roen, who is forestry manager for parts of Innlandet in Viken Skog. Terje Roen from Viken Skog says that it is primarily the individual forest owner who is affected by bark beetle attacks. – When the beetles attack and start to burrow in, the value of the timber will go from sawn timber down to, at best, sawdust or to biowood or dry fir. Then the value of the forest is reduced by over 50 per cent, he says. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news – There is a crisis for development. Then there will be a flourishing of the bark beetles, he says. The forestry manager says that Viken Skog is worried about what might happen in the spring of 2025. Drone images from Viken Skog clearly show the damage to the otherwise healthy forest. The white trees are dead after being attacked by the beetles. The reddish trees have an ongoing spruce bark beetle attack. The beetles spread from tree to tree. Photo: Viken SKog Although the forestry industry started clean-up after the windfall in 2021, they have not managed to prevent the spread of the beetles in parts of southern Norway. Overview maps from Nibio show that Eastern Norway is particularly exposed to bark beetles. Buskerud has the highest county level, but Innlandet, Vestfold and Telemark also have high incidences of beetles, according to the map. Spruce bark beetles belong in Norwegian nature, it is the bloom after the storm that is now the problem. We don’t know how the forest is doing Many municipalities in Eastern Norway were hit hard by the storm in 2021. Senior researcher Paal Krokene at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomics (Nibio) says that we have over a hundred municipalities in this part of Norway where spruce grows. Senior researcher Paal Krokene at the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy (Nibio) Photo: Erling Fløistad / NIBIO – We actually have a rather poor overview of the extent of the damage. We count beetles, but we have no systematic overview of attacks on standing forests, he says. In 2023, the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy produced an information booklet about the spruce bark beetle. Among other things, it says here that the species is on the rise, helped by global climate change. – It is a weakness that we don’t really know how the forest is doing, he says. Has set out counting traps The researcher from Nibio is also concerned about the development of bark beetles. They are now working together with the municipalities to try to get a better overview. They have set out counting traps to which the beetles are attracted. – There are pipe traps that attract beetles with pheromones. They catch a lot of beetles. We have around 120 such trap groups around, he says. Spruce bark beetles thrive best in forests left after a storm. Vidar Lone Lysnes from Etnedal Municipality looks out over the area where the Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy and Etnedal Municipality collaborate to set traps to monitor the population of beetles. Here, Mikal Råheim from Valdres Skog and Vidar Lone Lysnes from Etnedal Municipality study a fir tree that has been attacked by spruce bark beetles. A spruce tree under attack by spruce bark beetles. The beetles spread to healthy trees. Expert Mikal Råheim from Valdres Skog looks for beetles that are found under the bark. Forestry advisor in Etnedal municipality, Vidar Lone Lysnes, checks the beetles for Nibio four times throughout the summer. He says that this summer there were approx. 11,000 beetles on average and some traps were up between 16,000 and 17,000 pieces. In 2019, only Vestfold had an average of over 10,000 beetles per trap. Forestry adviser in Etnedal municipality Vidar Lone Lysnes checks the traps for beetles. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news – The traps are effective, but it is a poor way to control the image population. So this is just for monitoring to see how the stock is developing. Lone Lysnes believes the problem must be reduced in other ways. Priority measures to avoid bark beetle attacks: The Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy (NIBIO) has together with the Directorate of Agriculture created a list of measures to avoid bark beetle attacks in 2024: Prioritize forest populations that have been weakened by wind, drought or bark beetles, as the beetles prefer weakened trees for egg laying. Prioritize stands in areas with a lot of damaged or stressed fir forest, as these provide the beetles with materials to breed in. Prioritize drought-prone forests, such as fir planted in typical pine locations, as these areas have more beetles. Avoid leaving flat edges against mature, spruce-dominated forest, as these are vulnerable to beetle attack. Prioritize stands with a high proportion of spruce over mixed forests and pure deciduous and pine stands, as the spruce bark beetle prefers areas with a high volume of spruce. Prioritize areas that had high beetle catches in this year’s bark beetle monitoring, as the danger of reproduction of beetles is greatest where the beetles are most numerous. ————————————————– Source : Prioritized measures to avoid bark beetle attacks in 2024 – Directorate of Agriculture Climate change can create an imbalance Researcher Erik Stange at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA) says that insects that experience warm temperatures can take advantage of the situation by having several generations during a growing season. Erik Stange at the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA). Photo: Andreas Mathismoen / news – So it can affect population growth and lead to an even higher number of beetles, he says. The researcher says that there is a kind of exponential development. Especially if there are no natural enemies that limit development. – Then you can have outbreaks of certain species due to climate change and warmer temperatures, he says. It shows that not everyone is a loser when talking about a warmer climate. – There are also pests that often get slightly better growing conditions or living conditions when we have a warmer climate, he says. This tree is under attack from the spruce bark beetle. When the trees turn white and die, the beetles move on to the next tree. Photo: Aleksandr Nedbaev / news Facts about spruce bark beetles: The spruce bark beetle is a species of beetle that belongs to the weevil family. It is one of the most harmful pests in Norwegian spruce trees. The beetle lays its eggs under the bark of spruce trees, where the larvae feed on the trees’ inner bark. This can cause the trees to die, as they are deprived of the ability to transport water and nutrients. The spruce bark beetle can cause large economic losses in forestry. Controlling the spruce bark beetle can be challenging, but there are various methods to control and reduce the population. Source SNL: spruce bark beetle. ————————————-The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Published 12.08.2024, at 11.16
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The forestry industry sounds the alarm about the invasion of spruce bark beetles after severe storms back in 2021. – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
