Nr. 1: Bark Beetles

The dose makes the poison — and that goes for bark beetles in the forest too. Under certain conditions, bark beetles can have a positive impact on biodiversity. However, due to climate change, mass outbreaks are becoming increasingly frequent. More frequent heatwaves and the bark beetle's love of summer are stressors that put enormous pressure on trees. This growing strain is putting the forest ecosystem and its vital role as a CO₂ sink at risk. 

Detailed information can be found in the sources listed below.

Why it's important to monitor the rise in temperatures in Austria, and why heat is so dangerous for us humans, you can read about in our knowledge snacks:

Knowledge Snack Nr. 2: Temperature Trends

Knowledge Snack Nr. 3: Heat

• CCCA Factsheet #31: Increasing damage from bark beetles in the context of climate change
• How Norway spruce and the European spruce bark beetle find each other (Sigrid Netherer, BOKU)
• Sniffer dog project vs. bark beetles (BFW)
• Nature encyclopaedia: Norway spruce (Blühendes Österreich)
• Licence to kill — Acting as agents on behalf of the green empire, bark beetles shape our forests (forstpraxis.de)

• Bark beetles — information and monitoring (BFW)
• The ongoing bark beetle calamity in Austria (waldwissen.net)
• The bark beetle — old knowledge, new findings, and things worth knowing (Beat Wermelinger, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL)
• Conservation dogs — including bark beetle sniffer dogs

Content: Sonja Lambert, Claudia Michl (both CCCA and BOKU)

Graphic Design: Sabine Tschürtz