Sondej Izabela, Domisch Timo
Department of Natural Forests, Forest Research Institute, Park Dyrekcyjny 6, 17-230 Białowieża, Poland.
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Yliopistokatu 6B, FI-80100 Joensuu, Finland.
Insects. 2024 Oct 25;15(11):840. doi: 10.3390/insects15110840.
In the Białowieża Forest, Norway spruce is the preferred host tree species for wood ants, both in coniferous and mixed stands; thus, spruce mortality as a consequence of a continuous spruce bark beetle outbreak in the Białowieża Forest since 2012 could have severe consequences for wood ant colonies, as well as their vitality and distribution. The main aim of this study was to assess whether the bark beetle outbreak had any effects on wood ant nest density and abundance and whether we could find any factors affecting the dead spruce distribution around ant nests. A re-inventory of active and abandoned wood ant nests in our study area was conducted from April to July 2022, using the same procedure as the previous inventory performed in 2016. The wood ant nest density was 0.11 per ha and remained practically the same relative to that determined in 2016. Our results indicate that, despite the importance of spruce for wood ants, in situations when only part of the spruce trees die, natural forest disturbances such as bark beetle outbreaks can actually have positive effects because more light can reach the forest floor, thereby promoting the establishment of new nests.
在比亚沃维耶扎森林中，挪威云杉是木蚁在针叶林和混交林中偏爱的寄主树种；因此，自2012年以来，比亚沃维耶扎森林持续爆发云杉树皮甲虫疫情导致的云杉死亡，可能会对木蚁蚁群及其活力和分布产生严重影响。本研究的主要目的是评估树皮甲虫疫情是否对木蚁巢穴密度和数量有任何影响，以及我们是否能找到影响蚁巢周围死云杉分布的任何因素。2022年4月至7月，我们采用与2016年上次清查相同的程序，对研究区域内活跃和废弃的木蚁巢穴进行了重新清查。木蚁巢穴密度为每公顷0.11个，与2016年确定的密度基本相同。我们的结果表明，尽管云杉对木蚁很重要，但在只有部分云杉树死亡的情况下，树皮甲虫爆发等自然森林干扰实际上可能会产生积极影响，因为更多的光线可以到达森林地面，从而促进新巢穴的形成。
