Bo Långström , Claes Hellqvist

Shoot damage and growth losses following three years of Tomicus-attacks in Scots pine stands close to a timber storage site.

Långström B., Hellqvist C. (1991). Shoot damage and growth losses following three years of Tomicus-attacks in Scots pine stands close to a timber storage site. Silva Fennica vol. 25 no. 3 article id 5450. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15604

Abstract

Shoot losses due to maturation feeding by pine shoot beetles (Tomicus piniperda (L.) and T. minor (Hart.), Col., Scolytidae) and subsequent growth losses were studied in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands growing at different distances from a timber yard, where pine timber was stored during the years 1982–84. In autumn 1985, pine trees were felled at 20, 40, 80, 500 and 1,500 m distance from the timber yard, five trees in each distance class. Trees were analysed for beetle attack, needle biomass and growth. In autumn 1988, increment cores were taken from 20 trees in each distance class.

In 1985, different damage estimates showed that beetle damage was more than 10-fold in the crowns of pine trees growing close to the timber yard as compared to less damaged trees in greater distance. Crude needle biomass estimates indicated that the trees attacked most had lost more than half of the total foliage. Following three years of attack, basal area growth decreased for 2–3 years and recovered during the subsequent 3 years, the total period of loss thus being 5–6 years. The loss in volume growth during 1983–85 was ca. 70, 40, 20 and 10% at 20, 40, 80 and 500 m distance from the beetle source, respectively, compared to the stand at 1,500. Growth losses did not occur until the number of beetle-attacks, ”pegs”, exceeded ca. 200 per tree. The highest observed growth losses occurred in trees with more than 1,000 pegs per tree.

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Keywords
Picea abies; growth; forest damage; Tomicus piniperda; Tomicus minor; timber storage; insect damages; shoots

Published in 1991

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Available at https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15604 | Download PDF