Das Projekt "Phylogeography of Tomicus piniperda and T. destruens in Europe" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Forstentomologie, Forstpathologie und Forstschutz durchgeführt. The bark beetles species of the genus Tomicus constitute one of the main pests of European and Asian forests (Schroeder, 1987; Bouhot et al., 1988; Ye, 1991). The genus includes six species (Wood AND Bright, 1992) of which Tomicus piniperda (Linnaeus, 1758) has a Eurasian distribution whereas Tomicus destruens (Wollaston, 1856) is circummediterranean. Three species, T. destruens, T. minor (Harting, 1839) and T. piniperda, occurs in Europe, whereas T. brevipilosus (Eggers, 1929) and T. pilifer (Spessivtsev,1919) are distributed in Central and East Asia (Wood AND Bright, 1992). The most important species of the genus in terms of forest damage are T. destruens and T. piniperda (Gil AND Pajares, 1986). Tomicus destruens has been considered in synonymy with Tomicus piniperda (Carle, 1973), as they are morphologically similar. However, the case for species status (Lekander, 1971; Wood AND Bright, 1992; Pfeffer, 1995) was supported by molecular studies (Gallego AND Galian, 2001; Kerdelhue et al., 2002; Kohlmayer et al., 2002). In addition, T. piniperda flies in early spring while T. destruens flies in autumn-early winter (Långström, 1983; Trigilani AND Santini, 1987). Furthermore, the flight of T. piniperda in spring occurs at a threshold maximum daily temperatures of 12-13 C degree in Europe, the northeastern USA and Kunming, China. In contrast, T. destruens flies at a maximum temperature of around 24 C degree in pine forests near Barcelona (Spain) (Monleon, 1995). Most of the information available on the distribution of Tomicus piniperda in Europe refers to both species T. piniperda and T. destruens, as they both had been considered as synonyms for long time. There is evidence that there is not a clear spatial separation of both species. In particular populations of T. destruens and T. piniperda were detected in sympatry e.g. Northern Spain (Gallego et al., 2001) or in France (Kerdelhué et al., 2002). This situation may also be present in other Mediterranean countries. Thus it will be important to improve our knowledge where the three species live in sympatry and where they occur solely. This will be an important information to apply pest management programmes in those regions.
Das Projekt "Untersuchungen zur Dynamik der Pathogene in Borkenkäferbefallsherden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Forstentomologie, Forstpathologie und Forstschutz durchgeführt. In Kooperation mit einer Schweizer Forschergruppe (WSL Birmensdorf) soll im Rahmen einer mehrjährigen Studie exemplarisch die qualitative und quantitative Bedeutung der Antagonisten in Borkenkäferpopulationen untersucht werden. Darüber hinaus soll die Frage geklärt werden, ob phytosanitäre Maßnahmen Auswirkungen auf die Antagonistenpopulation haben können und welche Rolle die Antagonisten (v.a. die Pathogene) im Verlauf populationsdynamischer Abläufe spielen. Dieses Forschungsprojekt stellt eine Fortführung bzw. Ergänzung zum 'FWF-SFB - Waldökosystemsanierung' dar, in dem u.a. Untersuchungen zum Auftreten von Antagonisten bei Fichtenborkenkäfern durchgeführt wurden. Darüber hinaus ist die Thematik ein Anknüpfungspunkt zu diversen europäischen BAWBILT-(COST E 16)-Arbeitsgruppen.
Das Projekt "Auftreten von Pathogenen im Kiefernborkenkäfer Tomicus piniperda und Tomicus minor (Coleoptera, Scolytidae)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität für Bodenkultur Wien, Institut für Forstentomologie, Forstpathologie und Forstschutz durchgeführt. Specific topics for investigations: 1. Registration of pathogens in beetles from different locations in northern, central and southern Europe over a two year period (to take account of temporal variability). 2. Registration of pathogen occurrence in beetles emerging from trap tree logs in relation to the time of emergence. This analysis will show if all beetles (parental beetles and offspring) have the same infection rates, and allows the development of infection rates in early and late emerging specimens to be observed. A prolonged stay within the bark is presumed to raise the contact frequencies of beetles with the (horizontally transmitted) pathogens. A related topic is the implication of changes in the quality and quantity of feeding material - particularly the direct and indirect implications of differences in phloem quality caused by timber decay. 3. Pathogen frequency in beetles feeding on P. sylvestris in comparison with those feeding on P. nigra (which should give information about the influence of (host) tree species). 4. Selectivity of individual pathogen species, i.e. the comparative frequency of individual pathogen species in the two beetle species (in some cases both bark beetle species occur on the same tree).