Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The oak is a very important tree in the Swedish forest that creates microhabitats for a lot of species. To preserve biodiversity we need to study Nature and the ecology of specific species to learn how we can protect them.

Forest management today is focused on efficiency and therefore as much of the forest is used to sustain our energy consuming society. Dead wood that in the older days were left behind in the forest is now used for biofuel to a greater extent. This is causing trouble for a lot of dead-wood dependent beetles in the forest. Among these beetles are the species whose larvae develop in freshly dead medium-thick to thin branches, which constitute prime targets for biofuel. This field study has investigated where three species of GROT-beetles are located in Skåne in Sweden. Pyrrhidium sanguineum, Phymatodes testaceus and Poecilium alni are the target species that during the spring and summer of 2015 were collected through flight interception traps baited with a synthetic pheromone.

These three species were considered quite uncommon in Skåne, and Pyrrhidium sanguineum is presently on the red list (2016). But the results of this study demonstrated that we found these species on almost every location where traps were deployed. How the landscape is affecting these species were analyzed to see how the different factors are affecting the abundance of the species. Unfortunately no significant results were shown, but tendency towards that the oak volume is important for the abundance. This is one of the first studies done like this on these three beetles, and pheromone traps are a useful tool for the future to study specific species in the nature.