Timber industry referred to. - In Saxony's forests, the battle against bark beetles remains intense.
In Saxony, the bark beetle situation in the forests is still tense. Sadly, the warmer weather at the end of March caused an early swarming of these insects, which could potentially result in three generations forming by autumn, leading to excessive reproduction.
The Environment Ministry informed that the brood development is progressing, as the first generation of bark beetles has already appeared in the lower hilly areas, while larval stages still dominate in the upper regions of the Ore Mountains. The total infested wood volume is only slightly higher than last year.
Renke Coordes of the state-owned company Sachsenforst reported a high activity of beetles in vast numbers. Additionally, there are numerous old spruces in the Erzgebirge and Vogtland, as well as in some other locations, that could be subject to significant bark beetle reproduction.
The good water supply within the trees, being helped by the surplus precipitation in the winter months and current rainfall, positively impacts the spruce's resistance against beetle infestations. The production of resin by the trees typically prevents the beetles' procreation attempts.
However, bark beetles do not reproduce in dead wood - they thrive in living trees under the bark. But when there is a massive infestation, the trees die, but dead wood does not need to be removed from the forest for containing bark beetle damage. Instead, it is part of a natural forest management and serves as a crucial habitat for endangered animal and plant species and other lifeforms.
On the contrary, the bark beetles tend to infest freshly dead or damaged trees caused by storms or snow. Consequently, these trees and those infested with the beetles that still carry their eggs or larvae under the bark should be retrieved from the forests promptly.
