After a bark beetle infestation, the forest is home to many endangered species

Many endangered species of animals and plants have settled in the Czech forests, where bark beetles were raging until a few years ago. This emerges from a study conducted by the Academy of Sciences, the University of South Bohemia in Budweis (Ceske Budejovice), the Wallachia Museum and the Nature and Landscape Conservation Agency. Bark beetle plague spread in the Czech Republic between 2018 and 2020.

After the plague, scientists observed developments in 45 affected locations across the country. They found that on average, more than 80 species of higher plants grew, 17 of which are on the Red List of Threatened Species. They also found a third of the native butterflies. They found large numbers of the most sensitive grassland species. These included an unexpected number of large and charismatic species such as the brown bear and grass cuckoo. Of the 199 deadwood-associated beetles discovered, almost a quarter were Red Listed, including attractive species such as the cochineal dust beetle and the red-bordered flat beetle.

According to Lukas Žižek from the Institute of Entomology of the Biological Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, the emergence of open park forests and a sharp increase in the amount of sunlit dead wood contributed to the described development. Based on the results collected, the authors of the study recommend not reforesting all areas with spruce trees, but rather preserving small forests and wetlands.