Ecology Insects benefit from storm devastation in the forest, according to study

SDA

30.1.2025 - 14:52

Storm Lothar left the forest devastated. But insects benefited from it. (archive picture)
Storm Lothar left the forest devastated. But insects benefited from it. (archive picture)
Keystone

Insects benefit from the devastation of a forest caused by a storm. This is shown by a new study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), for which insect diversity in storm areas was examined over a period of 20 years.

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According to the study, the diversity of insects in the forest increases significantly in the first few years after a hurricane, as the WSL wrote in a press release on Thursday.

For their study, the WSL researchers set up different insect traps on storm areas and intact comparison forests after the winter storms Vivian in 1990 and Lothar in 1999. In some of the storm areas, the fallen trees had been cleared away, while in others they were left lying around. They collected over 500,000 insects, spiders and other arthropods of over 1600 different species.

This data collection has resulted in a globally unique data set. "Never before has data on arthropods been collected at regular intervals for 20 years after an ecological disturbance," Beat Wermelinger, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, was quoted as saying in the press release.

More insects and greater diversity

During this period, the researchers not only found significantly more individuals of the animal species studied in the destroyed areas, but also a higher diversity of species than in the forests that had survived the storms unscathed.

Contrary to the researchers' expectations, the number of species on cleared and left storm areas was comparable. However, the species composition differed. Particularly endangered species, such as the large pincer beetle and the mason bee, were found more frequently on uncleared storm areas. Even 20 years after the storms, more endangered insects were found on uncleared areas.