Some reactions of Ips typographus (L.) (Col.: Scolytidae) to changing breeding conditions in a forest decline area in the Sudeten Mountains, Poland

Abstract

Investigations on I. typographus populations were conducted in 1992–1994 in the Sudeten (south-western Poland), in Norway spruce stands that were devastated previously by insect outbreaks and that exhibited severe forest decline. Crown defoliation and the volume of infested trees per hectare were used as indices of stand health and breeding conditions; variability in the infestation density, gallery length, and body length of beetles were parameters that were used to estimate the response of I. typographus populations to changing stand conditions. In stands located in the zone above 800 m a.s.l. where both the level defoliation and tree mortality were higher, the infestation density and body length of I. typographus were higher than in the zone below 800 m a.s.l., where stands were less damaged. Contrarily, the gallery length was higher in lower montane zone, where lower infestation densities and body length values were found. A proposed mechanism for this interaction, which is attributed mainly to better breeding conditions for I. typographus populations in weakened stands, is presented and discussed.