In recent years, the effects of climate change became evident worldwide in the form of extreme weather. After the storm “Friederike” in early 2018, the combination of recurring storm events and dry periods promoted the massive spread of bark-breeding beetles in Germany. With the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus L.) being most relevant, since it is considered the most important pest of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. KARST.) in Central Europe. Under most favorable conditions during recent years, the beetle was able to produce up to three generations per year. The resulting mass reproduction meant that the spruce bark beetle was able to infest large areas of spruce stands as a primary pest and cause them to die, as shown in Figure 1 (Landolt 2004).
The huge amounts of calamity timber posed enormous challenges for forest owners, forest operators, and the wood processing industry. Figure 2 illustrates the total amount of damaged wood harvested in Germany from 2006 to 2022 and clearly shows the increase of calamity timber caused by both storm and beetle attack in the period between 2018 and 2022.
As the calamity progressed, the German forest received a lot of attention and became the focus of politics, which provided extensive financial resources for forest owners and for research (BMEL 2022). One research project that was set with the goal of an of increased wood use is the “NUKAFI” project (Utilization of calamity timber from Norway spruce), which was launched in August 2022.
Keywords: spruce calamity timber, bark beetle infested spruce, standing-storage
Authors
Jan-Frederik Trautwein
Wood Biology and Wood Products, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen
Holger Militz
Wood Biology and Wood Products, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Goettingen
Christian Brischke
Thünen Institute of Wood Research
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