FOREST rangers have removed spruce trees infested by European spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus) in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the pest in a forest in the state of Saxony, Germany.
Forestry officials, particularly in Saxony, Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg, are observing a surge in bark beetle populations due to the recent unseasonably dry and hot weather of May and June.
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The beetles, which bore into the bark of spruce trees and stop the trees’ needed circulation of water and nutrients, can devastate spruce forests.
The impact is two-fold, because hot, dry weather also weakens the trees by reducing their ability to generate sap, making them less able to fend off bark beetle attacks.
Germany has high concentrations of spruce forests in certain regions, where they were planted over centuries for commercial use in the lumber industry.
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