Attacks on living spruce trees by the bark beetle Ips typographus (Col. Scolytidae) following a storm-felling: a comparison between stands with and without removal of wind-felled trees

Abstract 1 To maintain biodiversity in forests more wind‐felled trees must be left where they fall. However, there is concern among forest owners that this may result in higher tree mortality caused by the spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus (L.) (Col.: Scolytidae). 2 In the 5 years following a major storm disturbance the number of standing spruces killed by I. typographus was determined in a total of 53 stands. In five of the stands all wind‐thrown trees were left (unmanaged stands) and in 48 of the stands, which were situated at distances of 1.4–10.0 km from each focal unmanaged stand, the wind‐felled trees were removed directly after the storm (managed stands). In the winter preceding the fifth summer new storm‐fellings occurred in the study area. 3 In the 4‐year period between the first and second storm‐fellings, 50–322 standing trees were killed by I. typographus per unmanaged stand. There was a direct linear relationship between the number of storm‐felled spruces colonized by I. typographus and the number of trees subsequently killed in the unmanaged stands. 4 Tree mortality caused by I. typographus in the unmanaged stands was almost nil in the first year, peaked in the second or third year, and decreased markedly to a low level in the fourth and fifth years. 5 In the 4‐year period between the first and second storm‐fellings twice as many trees were killed per ha in the unmanaged stands than in the managed stands: the average difference being 6.2 killed trees per ha, equivalent to 19% of the number of spruce trees felled by the first storm in the unmanaged stands. 6 Much higher numbers of trees were killed per ha in the stand edges than in the interiors of both the unmanaged and the managed stands.