Distribution of a bark beetle and its predator within and outside old growth forest reserves: No increase of hazard near reserves

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Abstract
To test the hypothesis that reserves create a hazard because pest insects are more abundant in unmanaged forest reserves than in managed forests, pheromone trapping of lps typographus was done within and outside two small old growth forest reserves (Tallet and Nyteboda) in southern Sweden. Initially, two 2 km perpendicular transects centered in the Tallet reserve did not show higher abundance of insects in the reserve in 1986 and 1987. A second hypothesis, that more predators existed in the diverse ecosystem in the reserves (giving fewer bark beetles) was tested. An important predator of bark beetles, Thanasimus formkarius, was monitored with kairomone traps inside and outside reserves, together with the prey in 1989. The catches of the prey (Ips) showed the same pattern as earlier. The predator was caught in small numbers, but in a pattern opposite to the predictions of the hypothesis of higher catches inside the reserves.