ZLV Online

Abstrakt

Silver fir (Abies alba, Mill.) is threatened by many factors in Central Europe, among which bark beetles of the genus Pityokteines play an important role. To improve the silver fir conservation, it is essential to adopt appropriate management practices. For this reason, we studied the occurrence of Pityokteines bark beetles in four sites located in climatically different conditions. In each site, five WitaTrap 5-segment pheromone funnel traps were placed from early April to late September in both 2021 and 2022. Two species, P. spinidens and P. vorontzowi, were captured. P. vorontzowi was significantly more abundant at all sites. Individuals of both species were recorded in the traps mainly in the period of April–August. The most abundant occurrence of beetles was at the site Nižbor, which can be explained by regional climatic differences (lowest elevation, higher mean temperatures and lower mean precipitation). The differences between sites can be also explained by different methods of forest protection applied. The study confirmed the presence of Pityokteines bark beetles and their dependence on climatic characteristics and forest management.