At SITES Svartberget Research Station, as spring returns, the traps for the European Spruce Bark Beetle (Ips typographus) have been again set around the Vindeln area. This is part of an ongoing research project that also has traps installed in other forested areas across Sweden, including SITES Asa Research Station.
New for this year, traps were also set to catch the Sharp-dentated Bark Beetle (Ips acuminatus). The Sharp-dentated Bark Beetle has killed and damaged some groups of pine trees in southern Sweden, with similar but even more serious reports from Finland, where a connection with Diplodia fungus has also been suspected. The new traps will help investigate how widespread the Sharp-dentated Bark Beetle species is in Sweden. Further analyse will be made on the fungal spores that they carry on the body to see if there is any connection.
Bark Beetle trap set in clear-cut forested area around Vindeln (Photo: SVB station staff).