0000000000744841
AUTHOR
Pranas Mierauskas
Drought-induced positive feedback in xylophagous insects: Easier invasion of Scots pine leading to greater investment in immunity of emerging individuals
Abstract We studied the infestation rate of Scots pine Pinus sylvestris by xylophagous insects in relation to distance from forest lakes in eastern Latvia, northern Europe. In summers of 2008 and 2009, we felled 72 pines of approximately 65 years age. Sections of the logs were incubated in insect emergence traps. The trees located near lakes were significantly less infested by xylophagous insects than those sampled at greater distances from the lakes. We also tested the ability of Tomicus piniperda , the most abundant species of xylophagous insects in our samples, to resist the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana . The results show that beetles captured near lakes were more susceptib…
Stakeholders' Perceptions about Fire Impacts on Lithuanian Protected Areas
The aim of this work is to study Lithuanian stakeholders' perceptions of fire impacts in protected areas. For this study, the stakeholders consisted of foresters, ecologists and farmers. A clear understanding of the opinions of stakeholders about fire effects on environmental, social and economic aspects of Lithuanian protected areas will allow an assessment of the stakeholders' reaction to fire policy, including government measures towards fire prevention, suppression and application of prescribed fire to landscape management. The results showed that stakeholders in general think that fire is not a threat to Lithuania and to the ecological processes in the protected areas. However, they ag…
Fire in Protected Areas - the Effect of Protection and Importance of Fire Management
Fires are important but socially and economically unwanted disturbances of the ecosystems. They cannot be considered as a problem, they are global phenomena. Protected areas are created to protect biodiversity, and strict protection is often applied, forgetting that fire had shaped that that we aim to protect. This harsh protection is producing important changes in the protected habitats and is increasing their vulnerability to destructive wildfires. Thus, it is of major interest to incorporate fire management in the protected areas plan, including the (re)use of prescribed fire and traditional burning in order to reintroduce fire regimens, fundamental to the landscape sustainability. This …